Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling.
Being Different Means Being Special.
Around 10 years later…
"Gwen dear, get up! Today is Dudley's birthday! Come out and help me make breakfast for your uncle and cousin." Her aunt's voice made way into Gwen's humble sized bedroom.
A groan came from a lump underneath a pile of blankets on a lumpy mattress. She kicked the covers off while she stretched out her muscles. A yawn like sigh came out of her mouth before she replied to her aunt. "I'm coming I'm coming. Do I get to sneak some bacon off of the stove while I'm cooking it?"
"Why of course dear." A slight chuckle left her aunt's voice as she walked away to go wake up her little Dudders. A nickname Gwen loved to use in public to see her cousins face flush with embarrassment.
Gwen was small for her age, something her aunt had said probably came from her father. "Scrawny" as she liked to call it, because her mother certainly was bigger looking. She seemed to not only inherit her mother's eyes but her good eyesight as well. She was thin but not to the point where she looked frail, she had enough meat on her body to turn into muscle. After all running away from Piers had improved her athleticism, as she turned out to be the most talented in all sports. With the exception of swimming, no matter how many lessons Petunia and Vernon put her through she'd just sink in the water.
Her raven black hair was straight and only reached her shoulders. If it got any longer it'd be a birds nesting place. And it was always a hassle to try to brush through it. Running her fingers through her hair as she stayed on her bed for a while, she looked up and was admiring a spider sprawling across at a fast pace. She grimaced when it dropped on the ground. Her thoughts traveled from the spider to her relatives she was living with. Petunia was an amazing aunt, considering how jealous she had been of her own mother. Gwen had been amazed about how honest Petunia was being with her. And how she hadn't held her in contempt of her dead mother, but followed through on her wishes and treated her as her own child. Vernon on the other hand treated her a bit distantly, which she couldn't blame him for. He disliked explaining to his guests about how her parents had died in a car accident that never really happened. Nor was he glad at her first bout of accidental magic. Vernon certainly didn't like to explain how to the Piers's parents on how Gwen managed to turn his whole body pink.
Dudley, her favorite cousin who repeatedly reminded her that he was her only cousin, was known as the boy who would beat anyone campus if they even touched Gwen. Vernon had a laugh about that and ruffled his hair while exclaiming "My boy being the good man he is!"
No matter how mean Dudley was to those who bullied her he was also known for his kind if not boisterous characteristics. Gwen giggled as she remembered how Dudley performed the old one two, as Vernon liked to call it, on Piers when he tripped her while she was running after his skin turned back to normal.
Her trip down memory lane was cut short when she heard her aunt shouting that if she didn't get down there'd be no bacon left for her to steal. Changing into a old, loose shirt from Dudley, she rushed down the stairs while trying to put on her shorts. Missing a step she came crashing through the air, face first stopping an inch or two from the ground. Thank the lords for elemental bending, she thought as she took a deep breath to blow herself straight up. And thank herself for learning it, actually thank Piers for that, as she giggled before making way to the kitchen. After all if it weren't for him and his goonies chasing after her to get revenge on Dudley, she would have never been able to bend air. She laughed as she remembered her favorite memory.
Flashback
She was panting heavily as she was hiding behind the cafeteria building. She heard footsteps nearing where she was hiding. She held her breath as they stopped to catch their own breathes. She heard one of Piers's friends speak.
"Where do you think she is? " she recognized that voice, it belonged to a chubby snot-faced boy named Brett, who happened to be Piers's right hand man.
"She can't be too far." Piers stopped then added "Brett you go with me, Dennis and the rest of you go together. We'll go to the right, and your lot can head left."
With that they split ways and she let out the breath that she was holding. She waited a bit longer to be sure that they were gone. And made her way back to the safety of her classroom. She sighed as she thought to herself about going to Dudley, but she didn't want him to always fight for her. She glanced at her digital watch and saw she still had a good ten minutes of lunch left. Sighing she headed back to the safety of her classroom when a hand shot out and grabbed her wrist. The perpetrator had no intention of letting go in her opinion, mainly because of how tight her thin wrist was being held. She winced in pain and she turned around to see Piers and Brett grinning like mad men. She mentally cursed herself in her own mind on how she could let her guard down so easily.
Warily she looked at them. Then, for the oddest reasons, she felt the sudden urge to sneeze. She thought bitterly on how it was the worst possible time to want to sneeze. But she had no choice, if she was about to get beat up she would rather have sneezed first than to hold it in. God knows how much a stuffed nose can torture a person. So she crinkled up her nose, twitching it like a rabbit, turned her head to the side where Brett, and let it out.
"ACHOOOO." But instead of a regular sneeze where she expected to stay in place. She flew upwards, much to the shock of poor Brett who was not only covered in snot but shocked at how she flew in the direction diagonal of where she turned her head.
She landed in the most awkward position, and it took her a while to finally believe that her sneeze was the cause of soaring through the air, ripping her wrist away from Brett, and landing up on the school roof. Sitting up she thought about how that could have happened; it wasn't humanly possible for a sneeze to get you flying. But then again magic wasn't humanly possible either. She stored the thought about experimenting with it for later as she saw the teachers come out and shout at her from the ground. And observing how her elementary school principal turned a beautiful shade of purple.
The good old days were great as she had a wistful smile while cooking the bacon. I really should thank Brett for getting me into the world of bending. Though I should really try and see if I can use other elements. She added with an afterthought, before taking the bacon out of the pan and separating them in plates. Gwen made sure Dudley got the best pieces of bacon and counted out eleven strips for him. She set it on the table while she watched her aunt juggle four plates and four cups of juice in her hands. She chuckled lightly as she went over the help her aunt set the table. Though she frowned at how her uncle couldn't even have helped her, even though he was sitting at the table reading his paper while drinking coffee. She sighed, old habits die hard.
She suddenly stopped what she was doing as she heard noisy footsteps making their way down the stairs. It seemed to her that the boy of honor has finally woken up to the smell of bacon. He was intercepted with kisses of his dear mother and a ruffle of the hair from his father before he reached the table. He turned around to the living room where he began counting the piles of presents that currently was occupying the room. He turned back around, face turning to a confused look. Her aunt noticed this and asked what was wrong.
"How is it that every year Aunt Marge has enough money to get me thirty some gifts?" his voice irritated and stressing out the number.
"That's because Aunt Marge loves you Dudders!" she answered in a definite tone of voice, signaling that the conversation was over.
Gwen looked over at Dudley and saw that he was dubious of the answer, but just stabbed a piece of bacon and shoved it in her mouth. She rolled her eyes when she heard him mumble out, "Yeah, it's not like she's trying to buy my love or anything."
Both Gwen and Dudley knew that ever since Aunt Marge realized that they were close she tried everything in her power to stop the developing relationship. Much to Gwen's delight Dudley never gave into the temptations of the gifts she gave him or the money she hands him every time they meet. If her aunt knew she never paid any attention to it, because everyone disliked Marge, except for Vernon of course.
"Poppykins, go get ready for the zoo." Aunt Petunia called out as it seemed that Dudley finished eating. "You too Gwen." As she saw what her niece was wearing, she crinkled her brows and said, "Wear a sundress, oh come off it dear we'll only be out for a couple of hours!" When she saw Gwen's face of distaste and the thought of wearing a sundress.
They were both rushed upstairs being reminded that Arthur, Dudley's closest friend, was coming soon.
By the time they finally reached the zoo, Gwen was feeling very uncomfortable in the dark grey sundress she was wearing. Even though it was a nice comparison against her slightly tanned skin. As she smoothed out the wrinkles from sitting, they walked all around and around without stopping once. Gwen, tired of all the walking and staring at animals found a bench in the reptile room in front of a giant snake asleep. Stretching her feet out in front of her and staring at her sandals, she wiggled her toes. I suppose today isn't so bad, wearing a dress and all. At least Dudley's having fun.. as she watched her cousin enthusiastically run around the entire place gawking at each animal and nudging Arthur to read the bio of each animal.
Waiting patiently for the rest of her family and Dudley's friend to be done so they can get something to eat she decided she might as well test her stealth. Wish a mischievous glint in her eye she found her first victim. The man was tall and well kept, dressed formally for an outing to the zoo, and held a face that clearly spoke 'I'm much better than you are'. Deciding to have a little harmless fun she began blowing air all the way to the man (who was all the way across the room mind you), as if someone was breathing behind him. Gwen ended up making him scream and claim that the zoo was a haunted place before sprinting out of there, much to her sadistic delight. I should have done this sooner she thought as she was wiping tears from her eyes, gasping for breath.
As she finished playing her tricks she glanced back at the snake in front of her, seeing that it was awake she leaned closer to stare into it's eyes. Behind the clear eye cap of the snake's eye was a slit that was a rich, dark, black. Gwen admired the beauty of the snake, the grace, and wished that she held the grace of one. She did a double take and gasped when she saw, or thought she saw, the snake wink at her. Snakes don't wink, they don't have eyelids so how did it.. her thoughts were cut short as she heard a hissing laugh.
"You're a funny oneee!" she heard a female voice come through the glass. Looking around and seeing that no one was paying any attention to her, like they ever would she thought while scoffing in an unladylike manner she replied, "I know, I was born funny. You're not bad yourself, you have a name?" She spoke, not entirely sure if the creature could hear her or not.
The snake jerked upwards and shook its majestic head, opened its mouth and hissed out, "I was taken before I could be named. Hatched here, in this cage. I haven't had a need for a name, for who would talk to me?"
Gwen snorted at the dry comment the snake had said to her. She couldn't help but feel some sort of pity since there were no other snakes to accompany her. Sighing, Gwen leaned forward to pat the glass in sympathy.
Time flew by as the last day of school finally ended and everyone scrambled to get into their parent's cars and hurry home.
Coming back into the house and towards the kitchen Gwen shuffled through the mail, until she found what she was looking for. Shoving the rest onto the table besides her uncle she ripped open the Hogwarts letter and exclaimed, "Guys! The letter for Hogwarts came! Looks like I'm going next year, sorry Dudley." She said as he came to read over her shoulder alongside with her:
HOGWARTS SCHOOL
of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY
Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)
Dear Ms. Potter,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.
Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.
Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress
"Owl?" Dudley said looking around, "There's no bloody owl around here. How are they going to know if you've accepted or not?"
The two cousins looked at each other in bewilderment as they realized that there wasn't a way to get in touch with these people. Gwen also thought she heard her uncle mumble the words, "brilliant bunch those people are." As they stood thinking her aunt came by and plucked the letter out of her hands and refolded it.
"No worries Gwen, someone will show up at the door in a day or two. They keep up well when people don't respond right after. It doesn't matter if they come from a nonmagical or magical family, someone will come by and make sure." Aunt Petunia replied while putting the letter back into the envelope, "Put this somewhere safe in your room, it's important is it not?
Nodding at her aunt's wish, Gwen headed up the stairs and heard a slap connect with Dudley's head as her aunt scolded him for using the word 'bloody' at such a young age. Closing the door before she could hear more of the lecture about being a refined young man and not a hooligan, Gwen got down onto the ground and pulled out a little box from under her bed. She fingered the soft, worn down leather of the box and opened it to reveal photographs, her mother's journals, ribbons from awards, and newspaper clippings. She slipped the Hogwart's letter inside the box and gingerly took out a journal.
Flipping through it again she chose one of her favorite entries that her mother had wrote in.
Dear Journal,
Hogwarts is nothing like the teacher, (Professor Flitwick) that came to take me to Diagon Alley described. It's even more amazing in person! The castle from outside is magnificent and breathtaking. It's a mansion where King Arthur lived, but even better! The whole place is filled with ghosts and moving stairwells. It's weird! Even the pictures from photographs move here. The portraits even talk back to you!
I have to go now, Professor McGonagall is going to check up on us soon, we're supposed to be asleep by now, but I can barely contain my excitement.
(And I've been sorted into Gryffindor while Sev has been sorted into Slytherin.)
Gwen never bothered to find out who exactly Sev was to her mother, she knew it couldn't have been her father since Aunt Petunia told her that her father's name was James Potter. And Petunia never seemed quite fond of Gwen mentioning his name, even if it was a nickname it seemed like she knew more than she had let on. Gwen never really found out who exactly "Sev" was or his real name, she wasn't so sure if she wanted to either. Considering how her mother stopped talking about him in the later journals.
Putting the journal back into the old box she stuffed it back under her bed and laid in bed until her aunt would call her down for dinner.
A/N: This isn't a really good chapter, I'll add more to it/revise it when I have time though. I'm trying to get the chapters back up again. Thanks again for being patient with me! And reading my bad writing, I do hope it'll get better though :). If any of you remember the other chapters it's a really drastic change from what I wrote before.
