I'm so excited for Harry and Gin! She's waited so long for him to notice her and finally, finally, he's seemed to figure out that she's there. Not only was that a jolt (to see them kiss like that) but I saw Draco Malfoy in the Entry Hall and it was the strangest thing. The moment I saw him, I felt this immediate pull to owl my father. I have no idea why. I mean, granted, I'm surprised to see Malfoy back at Hogwarts, particularly because he has been gone for months in America, but there was no explaining this strange desire to go write to Da.
I went with the crowd plus Malfoy back to the Tower and then excused myself. I was unsure if I ought to write Da, but I did.
Hey Da-
Just thought I'd write to you and say hello. Lav and I are fine; she's working been working on that astrology chart you asked for. My Transfiguration marks are up, you'll be pleased to know. Had a bit of a surprise today when I came down from supper; I saw Draco Malfoy. I'd thought he was in America this year, but apparently, it was only for one term. He's back and it's the strangest of things: he seems to be taken with a Gryffindor. Her name is Hermione; she's the smartest witch in school. She's the one who's best friends with Harry Potter. Anyway, say hello to Marisa for me.
All my love,
SI posted it with my owl, Aurora, and then turned to my project. It was so strange, that urging to owl Da, but perhaps engaging in some normal activity would put my mind to ease.
And so I sat on my bed and pulled the curtains tight around it. My roommates were all away on holiday, but I wanted to make sure I wouldn't be disturbed. And then I pulled out the three sets of balls I owned. They were only deactivated Bludgers, but they served their purpose fine. I set them out in three pairs, one on either side of me, and one pair in front.
And then I closed my eyes. I've always been a little strange, I suppose you could say. I remember, when I was very small, holding my sister's doll above her head using my magic. I had no wand, but when I concentrated enough on the doll and willed it to rise, it did. And so I learned to levitate.
Which is what I did now with the Bludgers. They rose and gathered over my palms, three over each hand. They circled, slowly at first. Then I whispered, "Faster."
And they rose a few more inches and broadened their path as they spun faster and faster. I smiled. Levitation. Not even Professor McGonagall could do it without the aid of a wand.
Stop, I mentally commanded. And to my surprise, they did. It was unbelievable, what I discovered every day about myself. I tried not to get too excited about new discoveries. I couldn't tell anyone, after all. No one would understand, if they even believed me in the first place.
The Bludgers were still hovering over my hand when the door to my dormitory flung open. I immediately commanded the Bludgers to fall into my palm as my sister Lavendar, who's a year older than me, and her girlfriend, Parvati entered, threw back the curtains from my bed, and proceeded to look absolutely jubilant.
"Sage! You will not believe what just happened," Lavendar squealed. She does that a lot. Squeal, I mean. It's quite irritating. But not nearly as irritating as her nickname for me.
Sage. I know. She used to call me by it when we were children, and although I've long outgrown it, she still insists on calling me by it. It's actually quite a clever nickname, and I suspect that Mummy used to call me by it and that's why Lav won't give it up. I don't even remember Mummy, but Lav does, so perhaps my being called 'Sage' is one of the few memories she has left.
'Sage' is a blurring of my first and middle names, but Lav thinks it's so incredibly clever because sage is a type of flower, like the lavender is. I find this kind of reasoning slightly far-fetched and generally nauseating. But then, my sister is not exactly known for her witticisms, so I digress.
"What happened?" I asked tiredly.
"Draco Malfoy kissed Hermione!" she shrieked. She and Ti exchanged excited glances.
"And?" I asked scathingly, not revealing my true shock.
"And? What do you mean 'and'?! This is Draco Malfoy. The Draco Malfoy. Oh, come off it, Sirena, he's only the most attractive male at Hogwarts!"
I raised my eyebrows. I've known that my sister was a lesbian since our first year at Hogwarts, and I never thought she had any attraction at all to men.
"He's the only male that ever interested me at all. Not to mention that he's Harry's greatest enemy!" she said, crossing her arms across her chest.
Ti looked affronted. "Malfoy interested you?" She seemed rather upset.
Lav waved her hand dismissively at her girlfriend. "Of course he did. You know, all those stories…," she inhaled sharply, a dreamy look passing over her face briefly. "But I would never. First of all, I have you, and second of all, he's not a Gryffindor."
I smiled slightly. I would never date a Gryffindor, and my sister would never date anything but. Sometimes I really wondered if we really were related.
"Anyway! So, Malfoy kissed Hermione, Harry kissed Ginny again, and then...," she paused and looked at Parvati. I raised my eyebrows further.
"Well," Ti began slowly. "Um…"
I looked hard at my sister. As different as we are, Lav and I are quite close and I have always been able to tell what she was thinking. As I gazed at her, I saw in my mind's eye what had happened downstairs.
"You two kissed in front of them all, didn't you?" I asked.
They looked guiltily at me.
I grinned. "Good for you!" I said. "Now you can quit ducking around in closets and avoiding each other at mealtimes, and all of that."
They looked relieved at my consent. I suppose I really should have been the elder of the Brown girls, for Lavendar leans on me and comes to me for advice more than I go to her. In my opinion, the elder ought to be the more independent, but, in our family, it is not so.
Ti sat down on my bed and Lav perched next to her. They noticed the Bludgers for the first time and Ti furrowed her brow.
"What's all this? Sirena, you don't play Quidditch," she said.
Lav looked at me quizzically as well.
So, now, you see, this is the part where I lie through my teeth to my only sister and the girl who will become my sister-in-law. And I'm sure it seems absurd that I would keep my abilities from Lav and Ti, but I know that a) neither of them can keep shut about anything (see above conversation concerning Draco Malfoy) and b) because of that, I'd be dragged in front of the Ministry of Magic every day for the rest of my life so that they could test me. And that, I deemed a long time ago, was not something I wanted to do. So I've been keeping my "powers" secret from Lav and ultimately, not a day has gone by when I haven't lied to her about something related to it.
"Oh, I was trying to respell these Bludgers," I said flippantly.
They let it go and the night progressed ever so slowly while I listened to them prattle on about something. I have no idea what, because I was too busy thinking about Malfoy.
Well, my sister and Parvati are gone now. They left when they realized I was no longer paying attention. And so I turned to writing about all that'd happened. And I am still wondering about Malfoy.
Why was he back? What on earth possessed him to go after Hermione Granger? And most of all, why wasn't Lucius Malfoy upset about it? Perhaps he didn't know, I thought. Perhaps this relationship was all one big secret, like Lav and Ti's. But then why would they kiss in front of so many people? Especially my sister and Ti, who were notorious gossips.
I wondered what had happened in America to change Malfoy so much. I agreed with Ron when he said "America must be one hell of a place." How could one possibly discriminate against Draco Malfoy, as he'd claimed? Were wizards in America really that dense?
Draco Malfoy had always puzzled me. He was so proud, so beautiful, so rich, and yet he seemed so lonely. His crowd consisted of all similarly wealthy Slytherins; and though not a beautiful as Draco, were nothing to sneer at. But they were always bickering and backstabbing, and he'd always seemed to be bored with their pettiness.
The notable exceptions to the aesthetic beauty of his friends would be Draco's constant companions, Vince Crabbe and Greg Goyle. They'd always seemed, to me, to be the bouncers of the group. Like Draco kept them around to make sure the others were kept in line. He always treated them like house-elves and I always wondered why they'd stuck around. But then, I suppose even being treated like slime by the great Draco Malfoy was better than not being around him at all. He was the celebrity of Slytherin House.
Since I'd been at Hogwarts, I'd noticed that Draco had always been surrounded by legions of fawning Slytherins, male and female alike. It was no surprise to me: he was smart, poised, witty, graceful, a Malfoy for God's sake, and his eyes held a burning intensity that was hard to place. His arrogance was, in my opinion, what drove him to hate Harry so. He probably didn't actually hate Harry, but he hated the fact that Harry was constantly stealing Draco's limelight.
Draco Malfoy never consorted with anyone not of Slytherin House. His closest friend was Blaise Zabini and they weren't even all that close, I had gathered. After his fourth-year date with Pansy Parkinson to the Yule Ball, which had always seemed a bit forced, he was constantly around Blaise. You almost never saw Draco without Blaise, and even though they were never officially dating, rumors flew about their underground affairs. (Right now, I think she's dating the intimidating Malcolm Baddock, but even Malcolm defers to Draco. He would have to, considering Draco merely allows Malcolm to date Blaise. I highly suspect that if Malcolm gets on Draco's bad side, Draco will snap his fingers and Blaise Zabini will no longer.. ahem… keep company with Malcolm.)
And then he went away to America. It had surprised me when he'd left; Draco seemed like the kind of person who reveled in his position as King Of Slytherin. And then he came back, tonight. And he's so different.
He had been proud and unkind, haughty and indifferent. Now he seems almost human; he even showed a touch of humility I would never have thought him capable of. His eyes still hold that intense quality that entrances me, and his looks have matured to be beyond boyish prettiness. He is strong, masculine and beautiful at the same time; and breathtaking.
Breathtaking. If one had to describe Draco Malfoy in one word, it would be breathtaking.
December 15, 1996My father owled me back this morning, requesting that I come home today. He said that he has something urgent to discuss with me.
It's rather strange that Da wants me to come home. I know he means to hash something out with me. I mean, only when he's really very angry does he send such a direct and harsh letter. A summons, really. I mean, honestly, I've pulled up that Transfiguration grade. And it wasn't as if I couldn't do the work in Transfiguration, it was just that it's so simple. I mean, all my effort in that class goes into making it look as if I had a struggle of it like the rest of the people in my class.
I think perhaps Da wants to talk about over-exercising Aurora, my owl, by using her for frivolous notes such as the one I sent yesterday. Ah well, at least in a few hours I'll be back and it'll all be over.
Later,
And so I went to Brown Manor.
My father greeted me. I met a new acquaintance of his, called Peter. Another acquaintance of my father's was also made known to me. Father and I discussed my scholastic excellence and I returned home.
My sister did not accompany me on this trip.
December 16, 1996I am finding it difficult to pretend to be this. The first entry in this diary that I made does not match the last one Sirena Brown made. It is apparent to me where her writing ends and mine begins.
There seem to be daily entries made into this diary. Therefore I shall have to continue to do so, for continuity's sake. But I do not know how I am to continue with the mindless prattle that fills these pages. I need to make it seem as if all is normal, but it is rather infuriating trying to copy the preceding entries.
And so I shall make this diary of Sirena Brown's my own. I do miss those days when I could pour my soul into the pages of a book. And that diary had come to be of great use to me. I had accomplished and discovered much from those months that I was resurrected as a teenager.
No one will be seeing these pages ever again, anyway. Sirena herself is unaware of what is happening to her; I can feel her confusion. She also has no idea of what she is capable of. What she can do. It is frightening to think that this girl is simply an extraordinarily powerful witch. Is it possible that The Chosen One is stronger than this girl? Is it even imaginable?
I nearly salivate at the thought of the power I will have. This child has the potential, has the ability to be able to perform one of the most ancient dark spells, this I have ascertained. She, very soon, will be able to Drain.
And then Sirena shall Drain the Chosen One. And I, through Sirena, will have more power than any wizard has ever dreamt of, for with the help of my faithful Death Eaters, I will Drain this child, this Sirena Brown. And my power will be limitless.