Sinful

By: Tinque Abelle

Disclaimer: Everyting related to Harry Potter is (c) J.K. Rowling. My goddess. Hee. Seth Stiles and Vincent Aries are (c) Havana ( Tinque Abelle. )

Author's Notes: This story was based on a tragically true story of a white boy who was murdered by his black friend for calling him 'nigger'. It tells about how much danage hatred can produce and hopefully, my audience will see that. While most fan-made characters tend to come out flawless and good, I've decided to take another route. Seth's thoughts do not align with mine, so ... don't think that I'm a psychopathic killer or anything. Hee. Enjoy and please leave a comment if you can. ^_^ Thanks.

Also, I would like to give a deepest gtatitude to WaffleCat. Thanks for all you've done for me, darling. ^_^

Chapter One

Mudblood. Possibly the most spiteful, poisonous, and taboo word that could be uttered in the wizarding world ...

Blinding sunlight streamed through the windows of the Slytherin tower one chilly November morning. It gleamed brightly upon the traces of frost that framed the glass and illuminated the dormitory. There were four empty beds, emerald blankets, pillows, and bed sheets rumpled and messy; obviously, the residents of the dormitory had rushed quickly for breakfast and left their beds without hesitation. A fifth bed, which resided opposite to the window, was still occupied but its occupant was not sleeping at all. Shielding himself from the morning light, Seth Stiles had buried himself deep underneath the blankets, quivering and gazing at a framed photograph of his family. His Muggle family. The faint sound of chattering and clamoring from the distant Great Hall caressed his ear. His stomach growled for nourishment but he did not want to join them. He hated people. Whenever he was in their presence, he was prone to being ridiculed or embarrassed. He would rather starve than face ... them.

After what seemed like hours, he finally removed himself from the comfort of his bed. He so wished he could stay there in and be cradled in comfort and security, but alas, school beckoned him and he could not ignore his academic duties. The light continued to annoy him, it was so bright. Silently, he change into his Hogwarts uniform and tried to brush his hair down, as it was gotten so horribly tangled up during the night. His hair was long and black, falling upon his shoulders in soft, slight curls. From a distance, you'd mistaken Seth for a girl. Even up close, you might mistaken him for a girl -- Malfoy made sure he didn't forget that.

When he finally came downstairs, everyone was retreating into their classes. Perfect timing, Seth thought, lightly jogging to Herbology.

He had only just made it to her class, which took place out in a massive greenhouse. Lush greens hung above them, letting streaks of sunlight penetrate through. Sinuous vines and flowers decorated the walls of the greenhouse, and in the middle was a long table holding numerous pots of various odd plants, each accompanied by a container of putrid brown material that was sure to be fertilizer. Just about everyone was clenching their nostrils and mouths to avoid inhaling the malodorous stench, their faces turning a light red or purple from the lack of clean oxygen. Professor Sprout was the only one who didn't mind the smell at all. Covering his nose as well, Seth entered the classroom and rolled his eyes as he walked over to an empty seat beside a tall blonde-haired boy known as Vincent Aries. On his other side was another slightly shorter boy, whose hair was a lighter blonde and was slicked back, known as Draco Malfoy. Both of them were friends of each other and used to constantly disrupt classes and as a result, Professor Sprout assigned Seth to sit in between them in an attempt to cease their disorderly behavior but now, all they seemed to do was bother and pick on him.

"When I first got to class, I thought the smell was coming from you," sniggered Vincent.

Seth merely ignored the comment and kept his focus on Professor Sprout. Vincent was transferred from Durmstrang, another school for witchcraft and wizardry. He always followed Malfoy around like some sort of minion.

"Oh, for goodness's sake; the smell isn't that bad!" exclaimed the professor. She was stout, and almost always sported a cheerful, humble smile. Her cheeks were cherry-colored, her nose was pointed, and her graying hair was always curly, . "This --" She grabbed a handful of the brown material and many students groaned with disgust. "--is Mooncalf Dung!"

The hearty witch carried on with the class, explaining how efficient Mooncalf Dung was in the nourishment of several plants, both magical and non-magical, and why it can only be accumulated during the full moon. Some students, including Seth, were listening intently. Others like Vincent and Malfoy, however, were either dozing off, engaged in whispered conversations, or doing other things to satisfy their boredom. Aside from being seated in between Malfoy and Vincent, Seth actually rather enjoyed this class. His grades were decent, much unlike his status in his other subjects. Pretty soon, Professor Sprout asked them to deposit the Mooncalf Dung into the pots of plants that stood before them. With high repulsion, the students obeyed her as quickly as they could. Seth was having a bit of difficulty, as Vincent and Malfoy kept bumping their elbows into him ( And whether it was deliberate or not remained a question, though Seth was leaning towards the former. ) .

Seeing Seth's struggle with the Mooncalf Dung, Vincent smirked. "Having a little trouble there?"

Seth grunted. Why they relentlessly picked on him when he had never done anything to them was a mystery never solved. "I-If you'd stop bumping i-into me," he stammered quietly. His voice barely ever went a decibel higher from a whisper.

Suddenly, he felt some fertilizer drop onto his shoulder and his eyes flung open in shock. "Whoops," said Vincent, grinning deviously. "Sorry." Malfoy and some surrounding students were howling in laughter.

Seth gritted his teeth and glared at him with utmost hatred. The hunger for knocking him down onto the floor surged inside him powerfully but he couldn't -- for one, he was small and much weaker than Vincent. Also, he couldn't cough up the courage to do it.

Vincent glanced around, noticeably taking in pleasure of the many laughing faces. "You oughta be more careful, Stiles." He flicked another small clump of the fertilizer at Seth's nose.

Glaring at Vincent, Seth blushed and bit his lip. You did that on purpose, you ... you prat!" He said this so softly that he only embarrassed himself even more. Everyone was pointing and guffawing at him, covered in filth. Curious about why everyone was laughing, Professor Sprout stormed towards him with a flustered _expression; her eyes were bulging, her face was scarlet, and her fists were clenched.

"Mr. Stiles! What is the meaning of this? I demand an explanation at once!" This sounded very unnatural coming from her, since it was not often she became angry.

"I'm not -- I didn't -- Vincent, he tried to -- oh ... I'll clean this mess up, Professor Sprout." Seth gazed down at his worn out shoes.

Professor Sprout began engaging in a long tirade to the class about keeping the equipment and material in the class tidy, as they were rare, expensive, and required proper handling. Much to her pupils' relief, a bell signaled the end of the first class and everyone quickly exited the greenhouse, leaving Seth and an exasperated Professor Sprout behind. "I do hope you will be careful next time, for heaven's sake ..."

Seth nodded. "Yes, ma'm."

Transfiguration class was pushing his aggravation further as students were glancing at him, grimacing. He still reeked of Mooncalf Dung. While Professor McGonagall was trying to instruct the class about today's lessons, Seth's attention wandered away, aimlessly. People were still clenching their nose and distorting their faces in an offensive, ugly manner as if they were trying to express their disgust. . Right now, he just wanted to disappear. He certainly did not deserve this. McGonagall's lectures were beginning to scramble into nonsense through his ears. Why'd he have to be so damn weak? How would he let Malfoy and Vincent pick on him so much? The two were sitting in the back row, and thankfully, they were far enough from him where they couldn't do him any harm. Seth sat in the second row, behind ... her. She was the single most beautiful creature he had ever seen. Her bushy, mousey locks seemed to shimmer every time she moved and her voice was music to his ears. Hermione Granger was, without a doubt, the most intelligent student at Hogwarts and yet, she was like him: a Muggle-born. Her parents had no wizarding blood. His family had no wizarding blood but still, his grades were among the lowest in the class, if not the lowest. He couldn't understand it, either. Perhaps Hermione was just talented ...

Seth felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned his head around and let out a small gasp at the sight of Professor McGonagall towering over him with her lips thinned and her eyes staring at him behind a pair of glasses. Seth looked around and noticed that everyone was tapping their wands onto small, green lizards and turning them into glass jars. Some were turning into glass lizards, while others turned into green, scaly jars. The only person who seemed to have succeeded was Hermione, who was now guiding the person sitting next to her.

McGonagall raised an eyebrow as his gaze returned to her. Nervously, he tapped the lizard in front of him with his wand and pretended to focus on the assignment. As she walked away to observe her other pupils, his eyes wandered off to Hermione again. For the first time today, he smiled a genuine smile. If only he had the nerve to approach her. He didn't feel this way about anyone else and yet he has never really talked to her. He managed a couple of greetings but she always seemed to be accompanied by her friends, Harry Potter and Ron Weasley, and they preferred not to associate with any Slytherin in any way. They sat together in a desk next to Hermione's, attempting to transform the reptiles into jars.

By the end of class, almost everyone had completed their assignment. Everyone, however, did not include Seth, who was still staring at the lizard, clueless of what to do. The bell indicated the start of their lunch break, but Seth was the last to go. Professor McGonagall requested he talked to her before he left. "Mr. Stiles, is everything alright?"

"Uhm ... yeah," he lied, "why do you ask?"

"I am concerned about your performance in this class. You are aware of your marks in this class?"

Seth twitch and looked down. "Yes, ma'm."

"If you need extra tutoring, I would be more than happy to --"

"It's okay, Professor McGonagall. I'll be fine. I've just got to practice more, I suppose."

"See that you do," she sighed, "I'd hate to fail you, Mr. Stiles. I know you can pass this class. You just have to try."

Seth nodded and rolled his eyes as she dismissed him

While everyone gathered into the Great Hall for lunch, Seth crept into the library. His hands were tucked into his pockets and he looked sinister. His coiled black locks were covering his face, making his eyes invisible, and he bore no traces of a smile. His face was pale and ghostly white, contrasting against the blackness of his cloak and hair. The only colors on him were the silver and green stripes of his Slytherin scarf that dangled fron his shoulder.

Only a few people were in the library and they were completely submerged in their books. Seth wondered if they came in here to avoid social contact as well. He strolled over to the back area of the library, to get as far away from Madam Pince as possible. Running his finger through the spines of the books on the shelf, he finally stopped at one of them and pulled it out. It looked very worn out and ancient, and on the cover, it read, in very scratchy type, "History of Curses". He smirked and opened it up, coughing a bit as the dust flew from the pages and into his face. It was a wonder why the book wasn't kept in the Restricted Section. The text was hard to read, because the pages were so worn out. The pages were a sick yellow color and it smelled foul. His finger ran up the page quickly and then paused, finding the place he had left off last time: "The Unforgivable Curses". This was not the first time he had read this section; he had read it repeatedly and often snickered loudly at the notion of making Malfoy or Vincent suffer at his feet. Madam Pince frequently had to ask him to lower his voice. Seth would then try to refrain from further sniggering as he thought about making her writhe on the floor as well ...

"I can't believe we're skipping lunch to study," sighed a recognizable voice. Curiously, he looked over at the desks that were located into the center of the library and saw Ron Weasley, Harry Potter, and -- Seth gulped down the lump in his throat -- Hermione Granger.

"Well, I think it'd be good if you studied for your Potions test, Ron! Besides, you've had a big breakfast. You'll be alright," Hermione said. "I'm going to find some books over there--" She gestured towards the area where Seth was and he almost jumped --" and when I get back, you had better be studying!"

Harry and Ron groaned as she left them. Seth frantically resumed his position and kept his eyes on the pages again, trying to look as if he was reading the whole time. He almost released a squeak when Hermione came over, right beside him, looking through the spines of the books inquiringly. She slowly departed from him, still scanning the books, looking for the right one. Lowering the book in his hands, Seth gazed at her again, his heart beating uncontrollably. "Hello there, Hermione," he murmured very quietly; the space between them guaranteed she wouldn't be able to hear him even if he talked in the volume most people conversed in. "How're you? I'm good. Hey, I-I was wondering if you'd go out with me s-sometime, I mean, if it's not too much trouble ... if you want ... to ..." He sighed hopelessly down at his book, quickly returning his gaze at her and regretting it, seeing that she was looking at him too. He waved at her and smiled as she waved back. He was so happy inside, he could die ...

Biting down onto his lip, he went up to her and whispered a feeble "Hi."

"Uhm ... hi," she answered. "Do you know the book 'History of Curses' is? It was here the last time I've seen it ..."

"'History of Curses'? Oh, I-I've got it right here!" Seth closed the large book and handed it to Hermione.

"Oh! Are you using it?"

"N-No, not anymore. Here, have it."

"Thanks ..." She looked at him with a questioning _expression.

"Seth. Seth Stiles."

"Ah, Seth. You're in my Transfiguration class, right?"

He twitched. She forgot? "Yeah. Y-Yeah, that's right."

They stood there for a moment, smiling nervously. "Well ... I've got to get back to my friends now. I'm trying to help them study for their Potions test tomorrow. Thanks for the book."

She walked off and Harry and Ron glanced at Seth curiously and then to Hermione. "What are you doing hanging around him?" asked Ron. "Ugh, he reeks even from over here." He waved her hand under his nose, wafting the smell away.

"Ron!" Hermione shook her head.

Harry looked over at Seth with a face of discomfort and returned to his studies. His smile fading away, Seth looked down and exited the library. His hair curtained his face yet again, concealing his tears.