Disclaimer: Read Prologue
A/N: Hey guys, I'm soooooo sorry about how long it's been! Don't worry though, I fully plan on finishing this story (no matter how long it takes) I've just been seriously distracted due to foreign exchange and apply for colleges. I promise I'll try harder to update more often (not once every six months :D). I can't wait to get to the heart of this story--the romance hasn't even really begun and the plot is just starting out. Keep reading though! Enjoy
Part I: L'Inizio
The Begining
Eight
"I refuse to go."
"Cho," reasoned Noemi, "you'll just get a detention if you don't come. And stop pouting!"
The two Ravenclaw princesses were just leaving the Common Room with their knapsacks in tow. Both Padma and Luna were lagging behind arguing over the mysterious meat that had been served at dinner leaving Cho and Noemi to converse openly.
"I swear Noemi, if this other Professor Carrow is anything like her ghoulish brother I will walk right out of the Great Hall." Noemi chuckled only to be punched in the arm rather roughly.
"Hey! Look, I understand you dislike—"
"Hate, despise, loathe."
"—Amycus Carrow but who knows, maybe his sister isn't nearly as horrible?"
"Noemi, I think you fail to grasp the fact that they are DEATH EATERS!"
Padma and Luna had finally caught up at this point but before either could interject into the conversation, everyone found they could not speak. Amycus Carrow was leaned against a decaying door to the dungeons and grinning gleefully at the quartet. Noemi noticed he must have just finished dinner as his gut was protruding from under his heavy black robes. The man was roughly the same height as the girls but seemed rather top-heavy. Apart from his disheveled appearance, what with his messy black curls, perhaps he had been rather good looking in his younger years—or when he was in shape. He had a dark mustache that matched his thick locks and almond shaped eyes. His skin had a healthy glow and his teeth were so white, Noemi thought they must be fake.
"And where are these 'Death Eaters' Miss Chang?" he cooed. Padma visibly twitched at the sound of his voice while Noemi felt a shiver climb up her spine.
"I…I don't know what you are referring to," she replied calmly. He raised his brow in dissatisfaction. "Sir," she added.
"I would be warned, child, not to use such terms while inside the castle. You never know who is listening."
Cho remained quiet as he waddled past, down the corridor they had been escaping. Noemi reached for her hand and laced her fingers through Cho's. She gave a slight squeeze before beginning to walk.
"What an arse," whispered Padma. Suddenly, Luna burst into a fit of giggles. The three others stared back at their loony friend completely incredulous to her sudden burst of laughter. After a moment or so, Luna regained her composer and gazed at the girls with a glazed look on her face.
"I was merely speculating if he had eaten the mystery meat at dinner," she said quietly. Padma burst into laughter and for a moment both Cho and Noemi believed they were the only sane ones in the hall until they too gave in.
The girls exchanged stories and snippets of gossip as they made their way to the Great Hall for their new lesson. When the four entered the Hall, it was completely different. The house tables had been removed and replaced with wooden bleachers only on the right side of the room. There were already a good number of students sitting in clusters on the very rickety looking bleachers. Before the bleachers, a podium stood on its own with an expansive black board stretching all the way down the longest wall of the Hall. Three chairs were placed behind the podium with three Professors sitting patiently for the lesson to begin.
McGonagall appeared positively pissed. Ørlog, the empathetic man that he was, seemed to be trying to lure McGonagall out of her present state and into a conversation. Slughorn, sitting between the two opposing professors, seemed completely oblivious to either of them and sat in his own fat inspecting his nails.
"Oi, Noemi! Come on!" She heard Padma's voice to her right and saw the others had already found a seat amongst the growing heap of 7th year students. Just as she was placing one foot before the other, she felt a heavy arm fall atop her shoulders and pull her back into a hard chest.
"Well if it isn't my favorite girl," cooed a smooth voice in her ear.
"Get off of me Corner," she hissed.
"Oh Noemi, you really need to stop this whole act of hating me. Though you are quite fetching when you're upset."
"Who said anything about an act?" She walked away from him but not before he caught her arm and dragged her back. By this point she had gained the attention from a number of students, three of whom, sitting with the other Slytherines, were particularly interested in the scene unfolding before them.
"That Corner fellow is really laying it on thick," proclaimed Pansy to no one in general.
"Some men have no class," sighed Malfoy masking his disgust with indifference.
"I suppose he's allowed to; they are dating after all," replied Blaise. Both Pansy and Malfoy turned back to face their dark friend.
"I'm intrigued Blaise; I'm one of the girl's friends and not even I heard such scandalous news," whispered Pansy raising one brow in intrigue.
"You're losing your touch Pans," replied Blaise.
"Want to help me find it again?" Blaise smirked at Pansy and she winked seductively. In the mean time, Malfoy had turned his attention back to the 'cute couple' and their antics.
"Would you bloody leave me alone Corner!"
"Oh come on Noemi. I've been the sweetest guy all year—"
"It's only been three weeks."
"—Please give me a second chance?" She rolled her eyes and yanked her arm out of his hand and stormed away to sit with her friends. Terry Boot, who had been waiting patiently by the door, strolled lazily towards his friend and patted his back.
"Looks like a no go Michael. I'd try to find another girl."
"She'll come around. She was like that when we first started dating as well."
"Come off it Michael, she's not interested."
"She'll come around; they always do." The two boys made their way near the other Ravenclaws but avoided Noemi and her group respecting their need for space.
The volume of voices in the Great Hall was so high, Noemi surmised Professor Carrow would have an extraordinarily hard time getting everyone to quiet down. How wrong she was.
As if the air from their lungs had been sucked out, the chatter in the Hall suddenly lulled and each student turned their attention to the doors that had just swung open. A tall, curvy woman strode into the Great Hall with such a hauteur air about her it out shown any Slytherine's—and they seemed to realize that as well. She had long black hair, straighter than a board that swept her lower back, but she had even longer legs. Without the classic black robe on, nothing was left to the imagination; she wore a high-waisted, black pencil skirt with a white oxford shirt tucked neatly inside. Her tie was a deep green and matched her pointed glasses that sat precariously on the tip of a pointed nose. Her heels clicked against the stone floor and echoed off the empty sound of the room.
She made her way to the podium, with a few books in hand and her wand tucked into her skirt. She flipped through a book and words appeared on the black board:
Turn to page 76 in your text book
Noemi glanced over to Cho who also held a confused look. They didn't have text books for this class. One of the Gryffindor girls had also made the connection and raised her hand bravely. Professor Carrow had not even acknowledged the students, or the faculty for that matter, but must have sensed that a hand was raised.
"Yes, Miss Bennington?" she asked feigning gentleness. Noemi watched as her blood red lips formed the words but only heard one word: Mudblood. It was true that Allisandra Bennington had come from Muggle parentage but never had she been addressed so coldly. The girl seemed taken back and hesitated to ask her question.
"We don't have text books Professor."
"10 points from Gryffindor for pointing out the obvious and being smarmy," she replied coolly. The Gryffindors looked outraged but held their tongues for at that moment, the haughty woman had flicked her wand and books appeared in their laps.
"The Dying Race?" whispered Padma. "What sort of text book is this?"
"The sort you will be memorizing Miss Patil. Now, if there are no more bothersome questions we may begin." Noemi gazed around the room and noticed almost every girl, save a few Slytherine ones, had a look of utter confusion and distrust on their faces. The boys, however, were still enraptured by Professor Carrow's appearance and had not registered yet what had traversed between the Professor and their fellow classmates. She looked over to where Michael and Terry sat and rolled her eyes to see both were practically drooling.
"I am Professor Alecto Carrow, your new Muggle Studies professor. I do not tolerate disrespect or tardiness so I will only say this once; if you are late to my lesson or disrespect me in any such way, the consequences will be severe. Am I understood?"
The room was silent. Professor Carrow smirked and flicked her wand again. The sound of hundred textbooks flipping pages echoed across the room. Noemi watched, mesmerized, as an invisible hand turned the pages of her book until they reached page 76.
"Now, who will read the chapter summary?" She gazed around the room and pushed up her glasses before settling her eyes on the Gryffindor cluster. She smiled a wicked smile. "Mr. Longbottom, how about you?"
"'Chapter Two: The Lesser Race,'" Neville paused as if to digest the clandestine meaning behind the simple words.
"Mr. Longbottom, is there something wrong?" Noemi felt like puking. She was taunting him—and that wicked smile was growing wider. "Please continue," she said sternly. Neville audibly gulped.
"'Since the beginning of the human race—a race that came much later than the noble race of wizards and witches—time has fought against their creation. While the ignorant few believe it was wizards who evolved from muggles, it is quite the opposite; muggles pose a biological phenomenon known as Natural Rejection.'" The room was quiet.
"Mr. Longbottom, did I say you could stop?" hissed the female Carrow.
"I—I—There's—wh—"
"Mr. Longbottom, if you continue babbling like a child unable to formulate words, I will be forced to retain your schoolmates longer than expected until you can finish reading the bloody chapter aloud!" She was visibly angry but there was that same wry drag to her voice; she enjoyed humiliating him. "Now, will you continue or will you make us all wait until you have found the brain cells needed to continue?"
"Professor Carrow! I hardly think that is any way to speak to a student!" shouted McGonagall from behind. Noemi felt the tension escalate in the room; no one moved a muscle as the ridged body of Alecto Carrow turned to face a seated McGonagall. She glided over to the older professor and bent forward much like a parent would to reprimand their screaming toddler. She spoke very quietly and seemed to hiss. Noemi, Cho, and Padma strained to catch the words being exchanged but failed.
Suddenly, McGonagall stood—almost the exact height as Carrow, only slightly shorter—and stormed out of the room. Each student turned agape, absolutely stunned at the audacity. Carrow turned quickly on her heel and faced her audience with a wide smirk. Noemi noticed the faint traces of Slytherine in such a ghastly grin and instinctively turned towards the Slytherines (who had all chosen to sit separate from the other three, mixed, houses). Draco Malfoy had his head down, examining his fingernails, as if bored to be stuck in Muggle Studies; Pansy's gaze was that of all the other students—staring after McGonagall; Blaise, on the other hand, met Noemi's gaze. He seemed to be as bored as Malfoy but he held her gaze for a moment, as if willing his thoughts into her head. They broke when a cool voice slithered into their minds.
"Mr. Longbottom, continue reading," she demanded.
The class dragged on for another hour or so but to Noemi (and probably the other students as well) it seemed years before they were released. Neville had been forced to read the entirety of the second chapter which transitioned smoothly from the abomination of muggles into the 'epidemic' that was muggle-born wizards. Cho had then been told to explain why the chapter was essential in understanding why muggles were inferior to wizards—a feat which almost made her cry. They were assigned a three foot long paper on chapters three through five by the next class.
"What a bloody witch!" screeched Padma when the door was closed to their dorm.
"No arguing there," replied Noemi.
"Noemi! How can you be so blasé about this? Did you see what she made Neville do? Did you see what she made Cho do? This is outrageous! We have to do something! We have to—we have to—"
"What Padma? What can we do? Fight them? Kill them? What can you possibly do?" shouted Noemi. She hadn't realized how angry she was until they had left the Great Hall. She felt the weight of her words sink in when she found the same questions directed at her. What could she do? She was only seventeen for Merlin's sake! There was nothing she could do to stop the prejudice in the world, the hatred in the world, she couldn't even stop the tears that were now escaping down her rounded cheeks.
"Whoa, Noemi! Calm down, shhhh. It's going to be okay," assured Padma as she held Noemi in her arms.
"But it's [sob] not Padma! You're right: this [sob] is outrageous what they're making us do! And we can't do anything. WE CAN'T DO ANYTHING TO STOP IT!"
"Yes we can," said a strong voice from the back of the room. Padma and Noemi looked up to see Luna sitting with Cho, cradling her much like Padma was doing for Noemi. Luna looked confident in her affirmation while Cho stared blankly at the floor, still shook up from the ordeal of Muggle Studies.
"Luna, this is no time for your silly ideas about Maddlewags and Bushtrackers!" screamed Noemi.
"What do Maddlewags and Bushmackers have anything to do with this?" she asked earnestly. "There is something we can do though. We can finish our studies and then go out and fight with Harry, and Hermione, and Ron."
The room went silent. Noemi had never thought of actually fighting for Harry's cause—not that she had ever thought of fighting for his cause either. It had just never affected her. Each summer she went home to Naples; each summer she went to a home where her greatest danger was of getting too fat from eating an abundance of pasta; each summer she could ignore the murderers reeking havoc on England and simply crawl into her safe cocoon.
But something had snapped. Dumbledore was gone. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were gone. And in there place were the Death Eaters that were now teaching them to hate their schoolmates simply based on the purity of the blood. What happened to the unity Dumbledore had always pressed in his speeches? Where was the fight that propelled them through Professor Umbridge's year? How did they—how did she—lose the will to fight for friends and what was right?
Luna was right though: she had to finish her studies before she could help. And she wanted to help. There had to be reason she was born in the second uprising of Lord Voldemort, there was a reason she was feeling all these emotions now.
She would contribute to the war.
She was willing to sacrifice a few tears to finish school and then focus on eliminating this prejudice.
But was she willing to lose someone dear to her heart?
Deep navy clouds rolled across the lake and inched their way closer to the castle. The looming threat of winter was creeping in early this year. Candles blew out from gusts of wind and windows rattled. The Whomping Willow struggled against the sudden force behind the wind and fought throughout the night. Students slept in their warm beds, dreaming of glory, of the future, of love and professors finished their lessons plans and sulked off to dreamland themselves. And somewhere, miles and miles away, three students struggled to fight for the rest.
A/N: Reviews are super:)
