A/N: Hey readers! Thanks for clicking on my new story, a full summary can be found below. I hope you enjoy this, it's one of my slightly more unusual and unique stories, inspired by the beautiful Myriam Fares in her music video 'Haklak Rahtak'. Please leave a review if you've enjoyed it, I like reading feedback!
'A small, secret part of her got a small thrill from being rescued by two unlikely knights in shining armour – except that these two were wearing their scruffy school uniforms and were too lanky to be knights.'
Claudia Yassine Itani is the only Lebanese-Northern African student at Hogwarts. Having never had much interest in the English school (or her lessons – belly dancing is much more interesting in her eyes), she is known as emotionally distant and slightly loner-ish. She manages to catch the eye of several people - including Fred Weasley and the professor of the rival school – and some of the attention will bring joy to her life, whereas some borders on being dangerous and slightly scary. This continues into fifth year, where a surprise new arrival at the staff table poses a huge threat to her. How can Claudia persevere through her school years, and what can she do when her boyfriend Fred isn't always there to protect her? Fred Weasley/OC
In this story, Marcus Flint will be the same year as the Weasley twins.
Claudia Yassine Itani walked with her head held high but with her eyes fixed firmly to the ground as she passed the Slytherin boys. She didn't look at them, even though they were looking - no, staring - at her. They knew fully well where she was off to, and why. That much she knew. She caused endless fascination from the students of Hogwarts – she knew that too.
She hoisted her bag further up onto her shoulder and brushed a thick, curly ginger lock of hair from her face. She wouldn't look back, she refused to. Instead, she listened out for the tell-tale sign of footsteps following behind her, but heard nothing. Perhaps they just wanted to have a good gawp at her. Claudia breathed a sigh of relief. This time (hopefully) they would leave her alone. She preferred to do her most favourite hobby in private.
Quickening her pace, Claudia strode down the corridor, unaware of who was behind her, and finally arrived before a door. She reached into her purple bag and drew out a large ornamental key that she inserted into the lock and turned twice. Pushing open the door, she peered inside to make sure no one was already in there, then shut the heavy oak door behind and began to relax.
She was in a beautiful room full of spotted old mirrors that were floor to ceiling – ideal for aspiring dancers. And Claudia desperately wanted to become a professional belly dancer.
Dropping her bag carelessly next to the door, she pulled her hair tie off her wrist and spent the next several minutes attempting to tame her hair. Claudia had the most abundant mane of ginger hair, thick and curly and the envy of many a female Hogwarts student. She didn't hear the door open very slightly or see three sets of eyes peering through the small crack. Once she had secured her hair and was sure the elastic would hold, Claudia retrieved a record from her bag and went to set up the gramophone. It was old fashioned even for the wizarding world, but back in Lebanon and Morocco, the birthplaces of her mother and father respectively, gramophones were relatively common. Most of the European wizarding community seemed to be moving onto vinyl players. She expertly slotted the record into place and moved in front of the mirror. Then, as the music filled the room, she began to dance.
Claudia had been dancing ever since she was young; it all started at the huge family gatherings she regularly attended right from birth. Her Lebanese mother proudly told anyone and everyone that she had been dancing just as long as she had been walking – and it was true. Claudia was a natural dancer with great stage presence and a star quality about her. She was far more interested in dancing than she was her schoolwork - this got her into huge bother with her parents.
As she began to dance, using a range of techniques from all the cultures of her vast ancestry, the door widened just a little more, revealing the greedy faces of the three Slytherins. Huge grins were spread across their faces, and unpleasant thoughts roamed through their lust-filled minds. Claudia was oblivious to this; within seconds of hearing the music, a feeling of complete bliss had overcome her. This was it, this was what she loved to do, this was her whole life. There was something so peaceful about dancing alone, without anyone watching.
But unbeknown to her, there were three people watching, and those three people were now debating whether to go in or not. Watching her twirl with her arms outstretched gracefully and then do an African hip roll convinced them to stay put just a little longer.
Marcus Flint in particular couldn't believe his luck. Claudia Yassine Itani had been his dream girl for almost four months now, ever since he had seen her in that little white lacy dress at the Yule Ball. How she had managed to dance so seductively in her four inch high black and white heels was anyone's guess, but it had certainly caught the eye of a fair few students (and a couple of the teachers). She wasn't dressed up now, of course, but the casual outfit she'd thrown on was just as sexy to him: a tight pale pink hoodie, zipped just low enough to reveal her chest and wide legged dark pink trousers.
The music, an Egyptian baladi song, tailed off and she curtsied, as if she was performing. In her head, Claudia did pretend that she was dancing in front of an audience as it gave her a particular thrill. It reminded her of the Yule Ball, when she'd been daring enough to try a few dance moves. It had given her the reputation of being 'the belly dancer', which was much better than simply being known as the Arab girl with the ancestry no-one could remember.
Grinning to herself in the mirror and giggling softly, she moved to change the gramophone record to a more tribal one she'd brought with her, when all of a sudden, three boys barged into the room. With a sinking feeling in her chest and a slight tingle of nerves, she wheeled round and glared at them, folding her arms across her chest.
"Well, well, well, look what we have here, lads." The first one to speak was Marcus Flint. Claudia felt a wave of revulsion go right through her. He was truly disgusting and perverted: lust radiated from him, and not the good kind. She'd caught him staring more than once around Hogwarts, and when she raised an eyebrow at him, he would just smirk as if it was all a joke.
"The little belly dancer, putting on a show just for us," Graham Montague said with a sinister tone. It made her skin crawl, and her heart race faster. One thing was for sure, these boys weren't here to give her constructive feedback.
"I don't dance for anyone but myself," Claudia burst out, resisting the urge to swallow in case they saw it as weakness or fear. They didn't seem to hear her.
"Perhaps you should show us again how you roll your pretty little hips like that," Peregrine Derrick suggested, his greedy eyes taking in every little detail of her. "I think we deserve a private show, lads, what do you think?"
They all muttered (or in Flint's case, grunted) in agreement and grinned at each other.
"Maybe she could dance, and take off a few things at the same time-" Marcus began, with an evil glint in his eye, and Claudia felt a rush of fear beyond anything she'd ever felt before. At that moment, two other tall figures walked in as she stepped back. In her terrified mind, she assumed it was more of the Slytherins but upon further inspection, it turned out to be the Weasley twins, looking grim.
"Oi, that's enough." Fred Weasley's voice was unusually grave, and authoritative. "Itani's the only one meant to be here, and I'm fairly sure she didn't invite you lot to barge in like a bunch of trolls."
"Who are you calling troll, Weasley?" Derrick asked aggressively, taking a step towards Fred, who stared him down bravely.
"You, by the sounds of things, Peregrine," Claudia said, watching the flush travel up his face. She felt braver having the twins for support, even though she'd have to watch out from now on.
"My name ain't-" Derrick began, but George cut across him.
"Yeah, we all know your real name, mate, cut the bullshit."
"At least Derrick doesn't carry the name of a filthy Blood Traitor family," Marcus cut in, but the pair barely flinched.
"I fear we may have to agree to disagree on the topic of Blood Traitors, Flint, but currently there's a much more pressing matter on our hands." Fred folded his arms.
"Here's the deal. You lot leave right now and never come back while Itani's here, or else," George said, and Fred nodded.
"Or what?" Montague asked aggressively, folding his massive, hair arms and doing the same slow, menacing walk that Derrick had just done. The twins refused to move back, even when Montague shoved his face near George's.
"Oh, we'll think of something really good," George said, staring into Montague's narrowed eyes without a trace of fear.
"Something specially planned just for you, Montague," Fred continued, raising an eyebrow as the other two came forwards and stood either side of him. Nobody moved for a moment.