A/N: I don't own Harry Potter or any related characters. Terra is my own creation
Terra raised her wand, staring at the toothpick sitting on the table in front of her. She could hear Othello breathing, watching her. With a trembling hand she waved her wand, said the words and waited. The toothpick did not catch on fire, but instead turned a slightly odd color. Terra's eyes widened as she heard Othello cheering quietly.
"Very nice, Miss Wilson. Although it is still not a needle, it is indeed silver in color."
Terra felt something bubbling in her chest, a smile spreading across her face without her thinking about it. She'd finally done it. She'd finally done real magic!
"Lucky break," Noki hissed behind her. "Don't expect to do that again, freak," she added, before the bell announcing class was over rang. Terra ignored Noki as she swept her books into her bag and walked from the classroom with Othello.
"I did it," she exclaimed, her chest feeling as though it would burst. She was starting to get used to these strange new sensations. They were becoming more and more frequent as time passed. It was nearly Halloween now.
Terra also managed to levitate her feather in charms, much to everyone's surprise. Noki only grumbled a little bit, and Terra easily tuned it out. She was still smiling as class dismissed and the entire Gryffindor first year headed to the Great Hall for lunch.
TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT
"See, it was the wand," Othello stated. "You're going to be an amazing witch, a brilliant little witch," he added as the pair reached the potions' lab. Professor Snape watched them enter and take their seats. Terra looked up at him, for a brief moment their eyes met and then she quickly looked away, her cheeks reddening. Othello didn't notice. Today they were all working individually. Othello was seated away from Terra today.
Terra tried to focus on the instructions on the board. Usually she loved potions, but today, her mind would not stay on task. The letter from her father weighed heavily on her mind. She had to do this, she had to succeed in this mission. Her stomach hurt just thinking about it.
"Miss Wilson, what is the third line?" Professor Snape asked. Terra looked up at the board.
"Powdered unicorn horn, sir," she whispered, her eyes prickling as she felt her body tremble. Something was wrong with her. She didn't understand why she was shaking, or why her head felt strange.
"Miss Wilson, what did you add to your potion?"
"Powdered bicorn horn, sir, I am sorry," she whispered, watching as the potion in her cauldron bubbled.
"Evanesco," Professor Snape stated, vanishing Terra's messed up potion in one sweep. "Start again, please, Miss Wilson," he stated before moving on to the next student. Terra blinked, her breathing slowly returning to normal. She couldn't figure out what had happened. The panic she'd felt, the uneasy feeling in her stomach. She needed to be good at potions to get Professor Snape's attention. She couldn't believe she had messed up in front of him.
"Terra? What happened?" Othello asked after class. He'd caught up with Terra quickly.
"I do not know," she answered. "I was distracted. It will not happen again," she promised both him and herself. If she didn't do this, didn't succeed, she would not be allowed back. If she failed, she would never see Othello again. That thought made her chest hurt more than anything else. She didn't have a choice in the matter. She had to make a move towards Professor Snape and soon.
TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT
Terra slipped from the dorm. It was late. She knew she would get in trouble for being out after hours if anyone caught her. She found her way to Professor Snape's chambers. She had no idea how she knew where they were. Maybe her father had told her at some point, it was vital to her mission after all.
She stood there in the hallway, trembling as she looked at the door. This was the perfect time to act. It was late, no one would know what had really happened until it was too late. She raised her hand to knock, but froze.
She thought about Othello telling her how much his mother and father loved each other. Othello would be hurt if she did this. She was his friend and she was trying to destroy his family.
Nearly screaming in mental agony, Terra turned from the door and ran from the castle until she ended up curled up on the ground by one of the greenhouses. She wrapped her arms around her legs and rocked back and forth, trying to make the pain stop, trying to figure out what she was supposed to do.
She wanted to obey her father. She wanted to save her friendship with Othello. How could she do both, why did she have to chose between her father and Othello?