I should add that this book deals with abuse. It'll be sparse, but it will be mentioned in some chapters.

December 19, 1975

"I said no. Don't make me say it again." I turn away from the persistent boy, frustrated and furious.

I try to lose him in the crowded hall, but he somehow manages to keep up. "But we both know you don't mean it." His hand finds my shoulder and I stop dead in my tracks. This only permits him to bend down to my ear, "Do you know how many times we could have?"

"Francis," I say, my voice tight, "get your hand off me. Now."

He doesn't. "Oh come on, Core."

"How many times," I raise my voice so our fellow classmates can hear, "do I have to reject you? Hasn't it gotten old, Francis?" Laughter erupts around us and I suppress a smug grin.

Francis glares at me but says nothing as I walk off to meet up with Val, my best friend, in the library. Not that we're studying because it's the second to last day of term before Christmas holiday, but we've found out that it's a great place to hide away and talk privately if you get a table in the back corner.

I spot Val instantly by her curly red hair that resembles a campfire. She's hunched over the table, no doubt carving something into the wood. No matter how many times she gets in trouble for that, she's never going to stop.

I sit down on the opposite side of the table. "Francis?" she questions without looking up.

"As usual."

"You should've dropped him when I told you," she singsongs, flicking a piece of wood shaving at me.

I don't say anything. I know she's right, but I was too late to see the shift from innocent to… not-so-innocent in mine and Francis' friendship. We were fine last year and last summer, but as our fifth year at Beauxbatons started, something changed in Francis. He got more flirty, more touchy-feely. Always positive that I wanted a relationship with him.

Finally Val glances up, her face dotted with freckles, "I'm sure he'll tire of it. You're strong for not giving in. Guys are only in it for the chase, anyway."

I cross my arms, "I don't know. There was something different this time."

Val shrugs off my my suspicions, but as we head down for lunch I can't seem to shake it off. I don't see any sign of Francis or his friends all through out lunch. Val tells me they must have left for home early; they're not the only ones. But I know she's wrong.

It starts out with a smell. Not too strong but it overpowers the smell of food. The casual conversations falter before picking back up. Then Francis and his friends enter casually, despite the glares from Madame Maxime; it's frowned upon for being late. Val misses it, but Francis throws a wicked smirk my way.

Then, all hell breaks loose. What must be hundreds of beetles fly through the air. Screams erupts from students, most crawl under the tables but it's no use. Before the professors can do anything about it, an impossible amount of compost is dropped on them: the source of the smell.

Through the haze of the beetles, I see Madame Maxime wave her hand through the muck and the beetles drop dead. The compost disappears but the damage is still there. Once everyone has settles down and removed themselves from the floor, the headmistress stands up.

"Whoever did this will be greatly punished. It'll be worse if you don't come forward yourself. If I…" she trails off as a piece of parchment floats down. She snatches it out of the air with her huge hands. Even from here, I can see the vein in her forehead throb.

"Cordelia Potter. My office. Now!"

I find myself walking to the Headmistress' office. I'm too shocked to think of anything other than the heap of trouble I'm about to get in. Before I know it, I'm in her office, shrinking under her scrutinizing glare.

She refuses to let me get a word in, cutting me off before I can defend myself. "Your behavior is completely distasteful. I have never met such a student who would do such things! This is the last straw, Miss Potter, I cannot have students wreaking havoc in my school for no reason. I'm sorry to say that you are expelled."

I feel my stomach drop as well as my jaw. "But that's not fair! I didn't even do that stupid prank." Who would even want to get me into this much trouble? It's not that I have many enemies. I try to be as friendly as I can to everybody… except Francis.

Madame Maxime continues to talk as though she didn't hear my outburst. However, I don't stick around to listen to the last of it. Ignoring my manners, I jump up from my chair and burst through her office door.

Francis did this and if anyone's going to be punished, then it's going to be him. I find him in the usual abandoned classroom he hangs out in, laughing with his friends. I stare at them, gripping my wand behind my back. "You three, out." I didn't think I'd be intimidating since they're all taller than I am, but they all scurry out, wide-eyed.

Francis is leaning casually against the wall, dirty blond hair slicked back. "Why did you frame me for that?"

He shrugs, unwavering in his cool facade at my threatening voice. "You humiliated me. You got the retaliation I saw fit."

I stare at him as if he's gone crazy, "Who do you think you are? Judge, jury, and executioner? Madame Maxime is trying to expel me for something you did! All because I won't date you?!"

With three large stride, Francis is in front of me. He cocks his head to the side with an evil smirk, "What a shame."

Heat courses through me. I promised myself a long time ago that I would never let anyone walk all over me or use me to their own advantage ever again. Francis is no exception. "No, you know what's a shame? When I take a truth potion and tell everyone the truth."

The smugness drops from his face, "You wouldn't dare."

"Watch me." I turn to go, but he grabs my wrist and pulls me back. His hand knocks my face to the side so hard that tears prick my eyes. The whole thing is so unfathomable that it takes me second to realize that he slapped me.

Almost immediately, Francis is apologetic, "Oh Corey, I'm so sorry."

I back away, holding my cheek. "Stay away from me." I wince as my voice shakes, regretting the sign of weakness.

He takes a step toward me, but I step back. We keep this up until I'm back against the wall and have no other place to go. My heart thumps erratically in my chest. Francis removes my hand from my cheek so he can place a kiss to it. I flinch away from the contact, only resulting in banging my head off the wall.

"Oh Corey," he coos, cradling my head in his hand, "why must you hurt yourself around me?"

"Le- leave me alone."

"But you came looking for me. That must mean something."

Yeah, to tear you down with me, I think but don't get a chance to say as his lips are brought down on mine. My eyes widen and I try my best to push him off me, but it's no use. Thinking quick, I wiggle my hand around to my back, grabbing my wand that I keep tucked between my belt. With a quick flick of my wrist, Francis flies backwards, breaking a desk.

Conveniently, that's when the door bursts open with Madame Maxime and a few other professors. Too distressed to care about how much trouble I'm in, I run over to them, tripping over my own two feet in my haste and falling at her feet. I bang my head off something hard and pass out.

When I wake up, I have a slight headache and a red head on my stomach. Looking around, I find that I'm in the hospital wing. Val snores louder than a thunderstorm, and I'm wondering if that's the reason I woke up. She suddenly snorts and jolts awake, mumbling, "I didn't do it!"

I chuckle, "What didn't you do, Val?"

She blinks the sleep out of her eyes before looking at me. "Oh wow, you're awake!"

"How long was I out?"

Val crawls off my bed to sit in the chair, "Just a couple hours."

"What happened?"

"Don't you remember?" She grabs for my hand and squeezes it as if my memories will return.

"No, yeah. I remember it all." Although, if I lost that memory from my life, I wouldn't feel sad about it. "I mean after me knocking myself out. What happened?"

Val sits back, retracing her hand. At first I'm worried. What if Francis did even more damage to my name? Who knows what all lies he crafted while I was out? "Well, Madame Maxime was raging, she still is. At first, it was at you for running away but then she saw what Francis was doing. Then as they were bringing you here, someone came forward, saying that they saw Francis and his friends out by the greenhouses, lugging bags of compost into the castle.

"When they were questioned, I heard that Sebastian nearly burst at the seams to come clean."

I take a second to let it all sink in. "So I'm not being expelled?"

Val shrugs, "I haven't heard anything about that."

I lean my head back into my pillows and close my eyes. My relief doesn't last long though. The whole scene with Francis replays in my mind: he slaps me, backs me into the wall, kisses me. Slap, wall, kiss. Slap. Wall. Kiss. It's too much for me to handle.

I don't even realize that I'm crying until Val shoves a tissue in my hand. Then my body starts to shake as memories I buried deep resurface. I curl myself into a ball. Val starts to freak out, trying to reassure me that I'll definitely stay now since the truth's been told.

But being expelled or staying in school is not my problem, and I can't blame Val for not knowing. Despite being my closest friend, I have yet to tell her anything about my life before becoming a Potter. I know she'd be understanding, but there's always this nagging little voice in the back of my head, telling me that she'd be disgusted. So I haven't.

After what seems like hours of crying my eyes out, the school's nurse rushes out and all but shoves a calming potion down my throat. Peace washes over me, but one rushed thought escapes my lips.

"I can't go to school here anymore."