Year Three: The Summer Before and Train Rides
I looked at Draco as we hid in the cabinet, holding our breath listening to the top secret meeting of the Death Eaters, we could hear snippets of the hushed conversation. "His return… The old fool's vault… If the attempt fails… Backup plan… Hogwarts." The rest of the conversation was impossible to decipher, a name was mentioned multiple times but I wasn't quite sure what it was exactly.
Once they filed out, we silently crawled out, only to run into Father. Anger I had never seen before shone in his eyes. I flinched in fear I had never felt before. "You damn bastard, how dare you eavesdrop on my conversation. Who do you think you are, to meddle in things that are out of your puny grasp? I should kill you. I could kill you." I moved to block Draco. Father watched this motion with twisted amusement. "No, darling girl, not him, I won't lay a hand on him. You see unlike you, he has worth to me, you are just a waste of air and life." The scariest part was the calm voice, fused with a cool fury in which he said everything.
Then he grabbed my wrist and pulled me up off the floor entirely, I felt the bone in my wrist snap as his grip tightened. Then his fingers unclenched and I fell to the ground, my head slamming into the floor. I felt warm blood trickle down the back of my head and my vision went fuzzy, the last thing I saw was Father's foot coming close to my face.
When I woke up, I was in Draco's bed and he was frantically packing his bags and mine. "Dray… What day is it?" My voice sounded hoarse.
He ran over to me, "Camela! Thank god, you're okay I was so worried. It's the day we go back to school. We're supposed to leave in half an hour. Are you okay?" He looked like he was holding something back, I gave him a look and his gaze shifted behind me, "You were screaming in your sleep, saying things about He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named."
I looked at the floor, "What kinds of things?"
He met my eyes, "The only word we could make out was his name." I wondered what I had dreamt about as I was in my dark sleep. "We need to hurry, Father needs to heal your eye before we leave and he'll be angry if we take much longer." I nodded.
When we reached the bottom of the stairs, I was met with one of Fathers glares that could freeze a volcano. "Father, how are you today. It's so wonderful to see you! Now fix my eye, please and I can be free of you for a year." I told him sick of pretending to be the perfect daughter, when I hated everything about this man.
He just glared and me and muttered the spell, "Be careful or you might not have a home when you get out of school this summer."
I lifted my head, and met his eyes, "Is that a threat or a promise?" He slapped me and barked for to Dobby to get the luggage. We landed just outside Platform 9 and ¾, and then Father disapparated leaving us there. I nodded to Draco in a way that said, the acting begins here.
"Camela, be careful, you haven't ate anything in a week." He told pulling me into a hug. I nodded and started to go onto the Platform when I saw a kid looking completely lost with an owl by his side. Wandering over I tried to get their attention, "Hey, its over there." I pointed to the wall. He looked confused, "You run through."
He glanced at me, "How do you know I'm not a muggle?"
I met his eyes with a smirk, "I'm psychic and you have an owl with you." I would have stayed longer but I saw the Weasley clan approaching and I chose to make my escape. "Well, I'm going to leave before my best friends see me." Then I rushed through the wall, I felt the boys eyes follow.
As I was walking someone tripped, I glanced up to see Angelina walking away, I picked myself up swaying slightly from my hunger that was finally setting in. When I got on the train I saw the boy from earlier sitting by himself in a compartment looking out the open window.
Knocking I sat down on the seat across from him, "Do you mind, no one else will let me sit with them." He nodded, looking slightly concerned, but he didn't press the issue. "I'm Camelopardalis Malfoy, but call me Camela or I just might have to kill you." He started to laugh when a cool voice cut him off.
"I would think you'd kill him off either way, do what your best friend couldn't finish." I looked up to see the twins standing in the doorframe. Another boy obviously their brother stood behind them, looking startled at their tone.
"Why would I want to kill anyone?" I asked.
Fred glared down at me, "He's Harry Potter, I'm sure you think it's a pity your brother never found him."
Rising from my seat I glared at him, "Don't you dare speak about something you have no idea about!"
"So why don't you make us understand?"His voice turned icy, the same way my Father's always had. Scared I backed up against the wall covering my ribs. I was barely aware, as I began to shake. The twins shared a startled glance. One took a step closer and I shrunk, out of the instinct I had grown used to.
I jumped up, and pushed past them both and ran from the compartment, stopping in the trains restroom, I locked myself into the stall farthest down and began to cry. I was angry at myself for letting the twins see me like that, and scared about what Father would do if he found out someone might know. The twins may not be academic but they were not idiots, they would figure it out. I just hoped they hated me enough they didn't care.
When I couldn't cry anymore I left the stall, and splashed my face with cold water until you couldn't tell I had been crying. I realized I needed to change only to realize my things were still in Harry's compartment. I walked back in praying to be invisible, I wasn't. "Camela?" I turned to see Harry and the twins brother sitting there.
"Hey, I'm just getting my robes to change you might want to the same thing." I told them, and then I left. I went into the first all girls compartment I found just so I could change, and then we were at school.
When we got to school we were lead to the Great Hall, and I took my designated spot at the end of the table, several seats from the rest of the Gryffindors. The sorting went okay and then they got to Malfoy, Draco. Everyone looked up ready to see if this new kid would also end up an outcast like his sister. The hall wasn't as deathly quiet as when I had been sorted, but it was pretty close.
The hat took one, moment then shouted "Slytherin!" On Draco's way to his table I saw him jerk his head towards the Ravenclaws, the house he deserved to be in.
Harry was sorted next, the hat took a long time, it seemed to be trying to convince Harry of something because I saw him shake his head. "Gryffindor!" Our table erupted and the twins began chanting, "We got Potter, we got Potter!"
The Weasley's little brother was sorted into Gryffindor as well and then the sorting was over. After Dumbledore said a few words Angelina moved seats to sit next to me. "Hello, Camela. How was your summer?" She said in a voice so pleasant the fakeness was dripping away to reveal the hatred it failed to conceal.
"It was fine, how was yours bestest friend?" I asked her in a loud cheerful voice. Many people turned to see how the exchange would end.
Angelina turned her nose up at me, "You're just a little nuisance. A waste of space, you don't belong in Gryffindor."
I looked at her, "You don't either. True of heart, that doesn't mean you kick anyone who is lower than yourself. You are nothing more than a bitch." I told her, my eyes boring into hers.
Her gaze turned completely sour, and she pulled back her arm and punched me in the eye. I didn't move it was a skill I had developed with the help of my father, don't show emotion when they hit you, they'll only hit you again. Within seconds Draco was at my side.
"Don't ever touch my sister again." The words came out sharp and even though he was a first year he was the same height as Angelina.
I put a hand on his shoulder, "Dray it's not worth it." He gave me a look to say, you know better than to let them hurt you. "It's life, isn't it?" Then I shrugged his hand off my shoulder and headed to the common room.
AN: I am not a hundred percent happy with this chapter but I rewrote it over four times and decided to just leave it be. The plot of the original Harry Potter which i sadly do not own, will be altered quite a bit to fit in with my vision and the flow of the story. Please review and tell me if I made the right to choice to not rewrite this yet again.
Thanks
Amy XD
