"Do you know what it feels like to be so alone, and to have an empty void inside of you? No matter what you do it's never going to be healed. You just feel so empty. It's like there is a part of you missing and you don't know what the bloody hell you can do about it!" I screamed at him. Tears streaming down my face. "So don't you dare say you know what it feels like to have the only people you consider family ripped from you in a blink of an eye; to have the last words they ever said to you be, 'I fucking hate you! Never speak to me again!' It's torture! It's worse than the cruciatus curse." I whispered in a broken voice as I fell to my knees sobbing. My family was gone. My brothers. Gone. Taken from me forever.

I felt a pair of strong arms wrap around me pulling me into their lap. I buried my head into their shoulder and cried.

"It's okay," he whispered as he stroked my hair trying to calm me down. "Everything will be okay." I stood up, backing away from him.

"No it's not. Nothing will be okay. They're dead, and it's all because of me!" I yelled, turning away from him and sprinting into the woods.

I heard him chase after me; calling for me to come back. I didn't slow down. I heard the distant sound of a waterfall and sprinted towards it. The closer I got to the sound the louder it got until I was right upon it. I skidded to a stop at the edge and looked down. About four hundred feet below me, large jagged boulders scattered the surface of the river below. It was quite pretty with the distant mountains and castle in the horizon. The breeze was tickling my face, drying my tears as if trying to comfort me. I took a deep breath, just taking in its beauty.

"What if I could end it now?" I thought, looking back over the edge. It wouldn't be a bad way to -

"Don't you even dare!" a voice yelled from behind me. I turned around and looked into his blue eyes. He started towards me but I took my wand and pointed it at his chest. He put his hands up in surrender and stopped moving.

"You don't know what you're doing."

New tears gathered in my eyes. "I'm a ticking time bomb waiting to explode. I'll hurt you like I did them. I will get you killed and I can't live with that."

"Nike..."

"NO!" I screamed. "For once just stop trying to help me. I don't need your help, I don't need anybody's help! I don't want your pity; your sorrow. I have dealt with way worse than you have. I have fought more wars than you, seen more of my friends die in front of me than you have. You will never be able to help me. No one can. You need to understand that I am a liability. I can't be trusted. This is the only way."

"Don't think like that. Just put your wand down and come here. Please!" He frantically took a few more steps towards me but I shot a stunning charm at him. He dodged the spell, stopping abruptly. I drowned him out trying to convince me otherwise but my mind was already made up. Before he could say much more I quickly turned around...

"NO!"

...and stepped off the edge.

TWO YEARS EARLIER

"Draco come on! Move your lazy arse or we're going to be late for the train!" I yelled at my brother while trying to maneuver my cart through the crowded train station to platforms nine and ten. I quickly glanced at the clock on the wall. 10:58 a.m. "Draco!" I screeched.
Realizing we could most definitely miss the train now. I looked behind me to see my brother, moving at a not so fast pace might I add, behind me. He looked at me with a "whats wrong" face. I pointed at the clock. He looked at it and gasped. Finally getting my point across, we raced to the two platforms was ran through the wall without a second glance.

As we stepped onto the platform we were greeted with the sight of a scarlet steam engine waiting next to the platform, which only held a few of the load crew helping the last of the students get their bags on to the train. A sign overhead said "Hogwarts Express", eleven o'clock. I looked behind us and saw the wrought-iron archway where the barrier had been, with the words platform nine and three-quarters on it. We made it with no time to spare. Smoke from the engine drifted over the heads of the remaining students as they boarded the train. A high pitched squeak of the trains whistle signaled everyone to get on the train.
"Come on." Draco said to me as he handed our luggage to a load crew member as he took our smaller pieces with us on to the train.

As soon as we got onto the train it departed. We gave each other relieved looks and started searching for our friends. I left Draco with Pansy, Blaise, Crabbe and Goyle and went in search of the twins after a few minutes of being on the train. I soon found them towards the back and I knocked on their compartment door, which they opened for me, and helped me with my luggage.

"I am very capable of doing that myself you know." I said to the twins pretending to be annoyed as Fred put my luggage up in the over head compartment. He looked down at me and smirked

"But we can't let her highness tire herself before we even arrive at the castle now can we?" George asked snickering as Fred sat down across from me and next to George. I rolled my eyes at the two but couldn't help the smile that spread onto my face. No matter what happened these two could always make me smile. That's one of the reasons I love them so much.
"Five-"
"Four-"
"Three-"
"Two-"
"I MISSED YOU GUYS SO MUCH!" I shrieked as I jumped on them and engulfed them in a big gigantic hug. I heard them laughing as I pulled away their blue eyes were twinkling with excitement and joy, I couldn't help but laugh too.

"Nike, we know you so well we could count down to when you were going to hug us." They said in unison, making me laugh even harder.
"Am I that predictable?" I asked after we finished laughing.
"Yep!" they both said again and nodded their heads as we started laughing all over again.
The three of us soon started talking about our summers and I told them how Narcissia took me to Paris to go shopping for new clothes, and to New York for Draco and I's birthday. She surprised me by taking me to see my favorite musical on Broadway "Newsies". Draco has being an annoying child and didn't want to come so we left him at home and went by ourselves. Although we are a high pure-blood family Narcissia and I love a few things that muggles have that we wizards and witches don't. I had to explain to them what a musical was and tell them about Newsies but they soon understood.

I think.

Either that or they got bored of me going on and on about how in 1899 the news boys of New York went on strike and all that stuff. Yeah, most likely the latter. Fred and George soon filled me in on some ideas that they had come up with for our joke shop. We soon were munching on chocolate frogs while brainstorming some more ideas.

By the time the train started to slow to signal we had arrived at Hogwarts we had twenty total ideas for different types of candies that can make you sick, fall in love, levitate, and even grow animal ears and a tail. I thought of the last one. I always thought it would be cool to be part cat part witch. With little black ears and a tail. OH! Don't forget the claws!I looked out the window and saw mountains and forests under a deep purple sky. The train had started to slow down.

I quickly excused myself to change into my Slytherin robes and I fixed my hair in the mirror. Once I though myself presentable, I went back to our compartment where the boys were talking about places for the shop.

"What about Diagon Alley?" Fred had asked as I closed the door behind me.
"There was a corner store I saw starting to pack up their stuff and transport it out. I believe they might be selling soon, we can check there one weekend if Dumbledore will let us." I said sitting back down by the window. A voice echoed three the train: "We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately."

The train soon slowed down to a stop and students pushed their way toward the door and onto the platform.
As we exited the train I shivered from the cold breeze. Although we are wearing robes they aren't very warming.

"Firs' years! Firs' years over here! All right, come this way!" We heard Hagrid boom over the chattering kids as he led them down towards the boats so they could get a good view of Hogwarts for the first time. The twins and I made our way to the carriages that pulled themselves. We hopped on to one that already had a girl with very pale blonde hair; it almost as blonde as Draco's! I waved to them as they approached but Harry stopped and looked at the carriage curiously.

A short distance away I saw Draco, followed by his small gang of idiots. Yes, including Crabbe and Goyle, AND his obsessive psychopathic bitch called Pansy Parkinson, was pushing some frightened looking, second years out of the way so that they could get to the coach themselves. Moments later Hermione emerged panting from the crowd.

"Malfoy was being absolutely foul to a first back there, I swear I'm going to report him..." She stopped and looked at me apologetically. "Sorry Nike it's just he can be...well you know how he is."

"It's fine Hermione, but really I don't understand why you guys can't get to know him. Or at least TRY to get past the whole "I hate your guts" thing. If you want I can knock some sense into him." I said wickedly, a big smirk appearing on my face. She laughed but before she could respond Harry interrupted her.

"What are those things, d'you reckon?" He asked Hermione, nodding at something at the front of the carriage. She looked at him dumbfounded.

"What things?"

"The things pulling-"

"Hermione!" The voice emerged from the crowd revealing Ginny clutching a squirming Croockshanks.

"Oh! I've been loooking for him. Thanks Gin." Hermione said, relieving Ginny of the cat and the two girls pilled into the carriage next to me.

"Finally. Come on then, lets get in...what were you saying Harry?" said Ron gruffly.

"I was saying, what are those horse things?" Harry said, as he and Ron started to walk towards the carriage.

"What horse things?"

"The horses pulling the carriages!" Harry said impatiently.

"What are you talking about Harry? You know the carriages have always pulled themselves." Hermione said, looking down at him worriedly.

"I'm talking about-look!"

Harry grabbed Ron's arm and wheeled him about so that he was face-to-face with a supsed "horse". Ron glanced up at us and then turned back to Harry.

"What exactly am I supposed to be looking at?"

"At the-there, between the shafts! Harnessed to the coach! It's right there in front of-" Harry stopped his rant abruptly. A look of relization fashed across his face.

"You cant see them can you..." he breathed, eyes wide in wonder.

"Are you feeling alright Harry?" George asked cocking an eye brow at him.

"I...yeah..."

Harry climbed into the carriage with Ron trailing after him. A look of bewilderment etched across his face.

"It's alright," a dreamy voice said from next to Harry. I gave the platinum blonde haired girl a questioning look. "You're not going mad or anything. I can see them too."

"You can?" asked a desperate looking Harry, turning towards the girl.

"Oh yes," said the strange girl, "I've been able to see them ever since my first day here. They've always pulled the carriages. Don't worry. You're just as sane as I am." She smiled faintly at him.

Who the heck are you? I though. 'Mione must have read my mind because she soon introduced us.

"Guys this is Looney- I mean, Luna Lovegood." She stuttered. Looking away guiltily. Fred laughed a little and I elbowed him in the side. He shot me an apologetic look although I could tell he didn't mean it. Rolling my eyes I looked out of the carriage tuning everyone out and I soon found my self falling asleep.