As the leaves turned darker and started to fall off of the trees, Fae's
spirits became uplifted. She hadn't been studying as hard and was still
manage to pass all of her classes. Though, of course, she being a
Gryffindor, she was on the borderline of below average in Snape's class.
Due to her good mood, Hermione was starting to talk to her more often. Of course, Ron wasn't-she couldn't even meet his eyes now-and Harry still wasn't either, for some reason. It was actually because his scar was getting worse and worse as the year went on. And he still found it to only burn when he was around Fae.
Hermione was walking with her to breakfast. They passed by a window and looked outside. "Oh, bugger. It's starting to get cold outside. I hate the winter.." she sighed.
Fae's eyes went wide. "Are you mad? Winter's the best season in the whole year! I love the cold. And the snow, and the gray skies, and the ice," She smiled contently and seemed to go off into her own dreamland.
The other girl looked surprised. "Really? Oh, I love the spring."
Fae stuck her tongue out. "Yeck!"
"Now what are you going to tell me that's wrong with spring?" Hermione put her hand on her hip.
Fae sighed and began reciting. "As others were, I could not bring, my passions for.."
"..A common spring." A voice behind her finished her sentence. They turned around and saw Draco standing there, his usual smirk on his face. "Edgar Allan Poe. The only muggle I can come up with who could qualify for being considered brilliant."
Fae looked excited that she wasn't the only person who could recite lines from Poe's works. "Oh, yeah! I love him!" She exclaimed. She suddenly snapped her mouth shut, after she realized whom she was talking to.
Hermione looked confused, and Fae felt her face grow hot. If Draco tried to talk to her like he had before, she was definitely going to hear it from Herm. Fae cleared her throat and put her hand on the back of Hermione's shoulder, shoving her.
"See you later Draco nice talking to you bye." She said in one breath, and they disappeared into the Great Hall.
Hermione looked at her inquisitively (and Fae suddenly realized she was shorter than Herm). "What was that all about?" she questioned, and Fae felt her face grow hot again.
She shrugged. "I don't know what got into him."
"No, I meant with you." She said, looking at her with concern. "I don't mean to sound like your mother or anything, but I really don't think you should be hanging around Draco Malfoy. He's in the Slytherin house."
"So?"
"So that means something's wrong with him! Not a single witch or wizard who's come out of there hasn't gone to the dark side. And when he was first being sorted, the hat put him into Slytherin before he even had it on his head."
Fae looked around, but could only come up with another "So?"
"So! Good Lord, you are just like Ron! Draco's a bad person, Fae!" she exclaimed, and sighed. "I'm not trying to tell you what to do, just to guide you along a bit. I'm just looking out for you. As corny as that sounds."
Fae nodded, although Hermione could tell she was angry. She knew that one of her biggest pet peeves was when someone tried to tell her what to do, and she had seemed pretty stressed out over the last few months. Maybe she just needed to lay off.
"Come on." She said, and smiled. "I know what'll turn that frown upside down! Look at all those pancakes!"
Fae's eyes went wide. "Today is pancake day? Oh wow, there is a God!" She put her hands together like she was praying, and dramatically looked up into the sky and 'cried' tears of joy.
Hermione laughed and they practically skipped off to the breakfast table. About halfway through, owls came flying in.
"Ah, post's here." Fred proclaimed.
Fae laughed, rolling her eyes. "Wow! You're quick!" she exclaimed sarcastically, and stuck his tongue out. Her put his arm around her.
"I think I'm going to have to kill you." He said in a lowered tone, as if it were no big deal.
* "Bitch say what?" Fae exclaimed in a high-pitch American 'gangsta' voice. He and George practically fell over laughing-though it wasn't really that funny-as the owls swooped down over the house tables.
A brown owl flew over Fae's head and dropped a package. It was clear plastic, and looked like a parcel, with masking tape forming a cross over it. It was full of a white powder. It could easily be mistaken as some sort of illegal drug. Ron gasped.
"Harry! Look, it's Heroin! I told you she was a Columbian drug Lord!" he exclaimed, pointing to her parcel in shock.
The boy with the scar rolled his eyes. "Ron, she's a girl. She can't be a Lord."
He ignored his comment, and Fae glared daggers at the redhead. "It's flour, Ron." She spat, cracking her knuckles angrily. "For my Study of Muggles project. I took the class because I've lived with Muggles for fifteen years..I should ace it."
Ron suddenly looked embarrassed, as his ears went pink. "Uhhh, has anyone seen Tracy?" he changed the subject. Hermione massaged her temples and shook her head.
George loudly changed the subject. "So! When are we going to go to Hogsmeade?"
Fae squinted. "Whowhat?"
+ + +
"Ahhh, it's finally Friday." Fae sighed happily, and flopped down on her four-post bed. Hermione was sorting through her papers and organizing.
"Oh, bloody hell."
Fae looked over at her. "Hermione. You swore. You're improving." She sat up and looked outside. "I'm going to go walk around outside. I need fresh air. Wanna come with?"
She smiled and then shoved all over her books together. "No, I can't. I'm missing some of my notes I took; I suppose I should go to the Library and fix them. I know, I know, it's Friday." She said, knowing Fae was about to protest. "But I just want to get it out of the way now so I don't have to deal with it later."
"Alright" Fae sighed, and they walked out of the dormitories and into the common room, where Ron and Harry were talking. Fae could have sworn, if Ron was a cat, he would have hissed at her with his fur standing on end.
She raised her hands defensively as the painting-door swung open, and she and Hermione left the room. They reached the main corridor separating the Library and the door to head outside, and went their separate ways.
As Fae stepped out into the crisp fall air, she took in a deep breath and exhaled happily. Fall. Winter was coming soon. She let her feet carry her, and found herself winding around the school, her fingers tracing freely along the walls as she walked.
She had reached the south side of the school, towards the outside of the Potions class, when she heard shouting.
"Leave me alone, fat-ass!"
"Hmmm..no."
It was Ginny and someone else. Someone sounding very un-intelligent. She heard a second mentally declined voice laughing along with the other, and snarled. Crabbe and Goyle.
She peered around the corner of the school, and saw Crabbe pulling on her pigtail and Goyle going through her books, ripping the pages out. Fae bit her lip: to kick some ass, or not to kick some ass. That is the question.
Ginny clawed at Goyle, shouting for him to quit it and that she needed that book. They both knew good and well that the Weasleys weren't the most wealthy family, and she most likely wouldn't be able to afford another one of those books.
Goyle looked down on her and sneered. "Don't touch me." He said, putting his hand on her collarbone and pushing her to the ground. Fae glared; that was it. She stormed out of her hiding spot angrily.
"HEY!" she shouted, and pounded over to them. "You two puffs think you can mess with some girl a year younger than you?"
Crabbe and Goyle both folded their arms, trying to look intimidating. Ginny stood up and shrank back against the wall. One of her braids had come undone from the pulling, and she had some dirt and scuffmarks on her uniform.
Fae stopped just before them and glared at them. "What the hell do you think you're doing, picking the easy way out? If you wanna pick on someone, go on. Hit me."
She shoved him, and he stumbled back a bit. She shoved him again. "Come on, push me back! Push me back! What's the matter, you're scared now?"
She actually had no idea what she was doing; and now she realized just how stupid it was for her to have waltzed out and threatened two boys, twice her size and weight. She sometimes talked more than what she could do, and never ever thought before she acted; now being one of those times.
The two brain dead ones exchanged glances, and Goyle jerked his head in her direction, edging him to do it.
"What? Why don't you hit her?" Crabbe exclaimed.
"Because she's a girl!"
"Ginny's a girl too and you pushed her too!"
"Shh! Well this one's bigger than she is!"
"By like a bloody inch!"
Fae sighed and glared. "You're a bunch of brain dead puffs. You're not worth it." She said, somewhat hopeful they actually weren't going to hit her. She turned to Ginny, who was still against the wall.
"Hey, you all right?" she asked, and Ginny nodded.
"Yeah." She seemed a little annoyed, and Fae could understand why: she was making it look like she couldn't stick up for her self by rushing in there and fighting them off for her. Which wasn't the case by any means; she was a very independent girl. Although she probably wouldn't have done something as stupid as Fae and rushed in there to fight with two boys that were obviously much stronger than her.
Fae nodded. "Come on, let's get out of here." She said, and Ginny nodded.
"My thoughts exactly."
She smiled, but when she turned around, she was face-to-face with Goyle again. He put his hands on her shoulders and pushed her back as he had with Ginny. Apparently he applied more force, and she tumbled to the ground, and rolled once.
"Are you okay?" Ginny exclaimed, and shot Goyle a death glare.
Fae winced. "Yeah, I'm fine. The ground broke my fall." She said, and stood up. Crabbe was cackling like a madman, and Goyle had walked to her again. She met him halfway and pushed him back.
"Now you wanna fight?" she said, pushing him again before she gave herself time to think.
"Yeah." He said, and drew his fist back to punch her.
Fae ducked, which was very fortunate; she wouldn't have been able to block that blow to her jaw. When she stood back up, she knocked him down on his back and kneeled over his stomach. She probably wouldn't have been able to do that if he was expecting it; she wasn't exactly the strongest person, nor tallest or heaviest.
She grabbed him by the shirt collar and hit him once in the face, before he rolled over and did the same to her twice. She started using the palm of her hand and hitting him in the head, but he didn't seem to budge.
Struggling beneath him, she finally realized that he was a male. She forcefully kicked her leg up, nailing him right between the legs, and rolled back over on him. She hit him in the face a few times, managing to actually hit him on his nose, which had been her main target. However, he was still able to hit her across her face too, and she shouted when his fist connected with her mouth. Fae kept punching him and punching him harder, not sure whether she was hitting him or the ground.
The next thing she knew, forceful hands were grabbing her beneath the arms and fighting to get her off of him. She kept clawing at him, although she was mainly just getting air.
She turned her head around to see Fred was the one that was holding on to her, and she narrowed her eyes angrily.
"Let me go!" she screeched. Her fighting had taken over her body and now she was ready to kill anyone who even touched her.
Goyle was standing before her with a shocked expression on his face. The fight was apparently over on his side, and he didn't even look like he wanted to hit her any more. She, however, seemed to have turned into someone completely different. She was acting like someone who lived for fighting and hurting others.
Fae broke from Fred's grasp and grabbed Goyle by the collar once more, but both of the twins grabbed her again before she could do anything.
"Goyle, I'll kill you!" she screamed, as the twins held on to her arms. Suddenly, the impact of what happened hit her.
She had just got into a fight, mercilessly trying to hurt someone, and said she would kill Goyle. She really did want to kill someone.
Fae finally stopped struggling, and the twins loosened their grip. She looked around, suddenly noticing the crowd that had formed. It wasn't very large, but apparently large enough to attract a few teachers.
Professor McGonagall and Snape were storming over, the large, shouting crowd making the fight more conspicuous.
"Oh, shit." Fae whispered, shrinking back into the twins. Draco watched from the back, his ice blue eyes following her as the teachers drug her and Goyle into the school.
+ + +
"I am extremely disappointed in the both of you!" Professor McGonagall preached. They were sitting in her classroom, after they had visited the Hospital wing.
Goyle had a bloody nose and a black eye, and Fae had a black eye, a cut on her cheek and a rather large and ugly bruise on her leg. Her hair was messed up and her shirt collar was ripped, as well as his. She had a hole in her jeans and they were both covered in dirt and scuffmarks. Fae also had a red mark on her arm from Snape's grip as he drug her in the school; he apparently didn't know his own strength, or maybe he did want to hurt her. That sounded more like him. She obviously had more physical damage than Goyle, but he dreaded hearing it from everyone how a girl had beat his tail.
"Fae, this is your third time being in trouble so far, and the second time for fighting. I don't understand the basis of its appeal; girls don't fight."
She shot her an unnoticed glare. A female teacher was being sexist towards other females; what an oxymoron.
"I'm just as disappointed with Goyle, but surprisingly, he's decided to abide to the rules this year. I don't know why either of you think that you have the right to just disobey and disregard Hogwarts code."
After some more preaching to neither of them really listened to, she excused Goyle. After he left and shut the door, glaring at Fae the whole way out, Professor McGonagall folded her hands on her desk and leaned forward.
"Fae, what exactly happened? Why did you fight with Goyle?"
She swallowed hard and finally let the tears reflect in her eyes. She had been holding them back until Goyle had left; never let them see you cry. "They were picking on Ginny." She said, choking over the knot in her throat.
"Who were?"
"Crabbe and Goyle." She said, sniffing. She felt like such a baby crying, and she wiped her eyes with the heel of her hand. "They were both picking on Ginny, and he pushed her to the ground and I lost it.
I didn't really want to fight him.I just acted before I thought. For a minute I thought I wouldn't have to, but then he started pushing me and I just pushed him back, and it started from there."
Professor McGonagall nodded, her expression unreadable. She seemed to be in deep thought. "Fae, dear." She said, and the younger girl stared at the ground. She sighed and took off her glasses, rubbing her eyes.
"I hate to say this but, if your behavior doesn't get any better," she paused, and put her spectacles back on. "I'm afraid you're going to have to leave Hogwarts."
+ + +
Fae mumbled the password to get into the Gryffindor common room, and wiped her eyes one last time as the painting swung open. It was no use; her cheeks still looked glossy and her eyes were red. She sniffed and put her head down, hoping they wouldn't see.
Thankfully, only Ron, Harry, and Hermione were in there. When she saw her appearance, Hermione did a double take.
"Fae! What happened?" she gasped.
"I fell." She mumbled, and trudged up the stairs to the girl's dormitories. The sound of a door shutting echoed throughout the common room, sounding final.
Harry and Ron exchanged glances, and the twins came in shortly after.
"Do you know what happened to Fae?" Harry asked quietly, and they nodded. Fred ran a hand through his hair and started telling them what had happened. Soon, everyone knew the whole story, and Ron didn't say anything smart for once. Hermione sighed with concern. "I'm going to go check on her." She said, and stood up.
She walked up to the girls' dormitories and knocked gently. She received no answer, and slowly opened the door.
+ + +
"Is she okay?" Fred finally asked no one in particular. Hermione had been gone for an hour or so, and he had begun pacing. He received no answer, and George stood up.
"I'll go check." He said. Ron stood up too.
"I'll go with you." He mumbled, surprising everyone.
Still no one said much as the two brothers crept up the stairs, and stood outside the girls' dormitory. The door was open a crack, and they peered inside, as silent as two little mice. The two girls were sitting on a bed, and Fae's head was in Hermione's lap as she fingered her hair. They heard Hermione speaking, though it was inaudible. She was answered by Fae's quiet sobbing and a few words here and there.
George sighed and looked at the ground, and put his hand on Ron's shoulder. "C'mon, let's go." He said, and they headed back downstairs.
Harry and George looked up hopefully, but received a sad look from Fred, and sunk back down into their seats.
+ + +
Rumors about the fight swarmed through the corridors that following Monday, and Fae found it especially noticeable when she walked by. Echoes and whispers of her name, and piercing Slytherin eyes didn't really make her journey from class to class enjoyable.
Care of Magical Creatures was the worst. Throughout the entire class, insults, whispering and hysterical laughter sounded while they looked at her in disgust. It was all from the Slytherins, and she even received a few spitballs on her face. However, Draco's substitute-of-where-a-heart-should- be seemed to let off on that day, too. At least there was one less person she had to deal with.
She kept her eyes down on her desk throughout Hagrid's entire demonstration on Faux, Albus Dumbledore's pet Phoenix. He had supposedly gotten it just in time for them to be able to watch the Phoenix burst into flames and a new one rise from its ashes.
She saw Pavarti walking to her desk, and raised her head to watch her. She didn't know how she didn't see it coming; her obvious attempts to not look at Fae, and the bucket of water in her hands used for putting out the Phoenix flames.
"Oh, oops!" Pavarti exclaimed, 'tripping' and spilling her entire bucket of water over Fae's head.
The class erupted into laughter, even some of the Gryffindors. The water spilled over Fae's hair, completely drenching her blouse and most of her skirt. Of course, her shirt was white, and became transparent as the water soaked in.
She turned to Pavarti and raised her hand to slap her, but stopped herself. She couldn't do anything about it, and she knew. Pavarti knew that if she got in trouble just once more, then she was to be expelled.
"Ohhh, I'm so sorry, Fae!" she said, putting her hand on her shoulder. "I forgot this." She put the bucket over her head, and walked away. Of course, the class erupted into even more laughter, as Hagrid tried to calm everyone down.
Fae grabbed the bucket off of her head, and screamed on the top of her lungs. Most everyone was silent as she threw the bucket on the ground and ran out of the class.
"Mudbloods!" the Slytherin class shouted in unison, and started throwing crumpled up paper, most of them aiming for Hermione. They had planned some sort of attack involving the entire house. Just to make them look stupid, too. Well, they had succeeded.
Hagrid turned to Ron. "Will you go get Fae, please?" he said.
Ron started to protest, but Hagrid had already moved on to the paper war. He turned to Harry with a worried look on his face, but found him to not be in his seat. He was behind the twins, throwing paper back at the Slytherins.
He sighed and ran out the door, chasing after Fae. As he stepped into the gray-sky morning, he caught a glimpse of Fae running into the main door to the school.
"Hey, wait!" he shouted, although he knew there was no way he could hear her. He broke into a run and headed for the school.
He had reached the inside of the school, and hadn't seen any signs of Fae. He wandered around, checking the Library, even waiting outside the girls' bathrooms. Finally, he heard a door shut. He ran up the staircases and saw a single door; the other was way down the corridor and he wouldn't have been able to hear it shut as clearly.
As he walked closer, he noticed that it was the door Fae had hidden in when he and Tracy were in the hall. He grabbed the handle, and pulled with all his might; it was locked.
He pulled out his wand and pointed it at the door. "Alohamora." He said, and there was a clicking sound. Pulling the door again, it finally moved. As soon as he had it opened all the way, an enormous explosion of cold air greeted him. He gasped and grabbed onto the door before he was swept away. The air didn't let up, and a loud howling sounded; it was as if he were on the inside of a tornado.
Peering inside, he saw Fae, shrunken up against a wall. She seemed to not be able to move because the wind pushing her back, and she was looking into the vast darkness with a look of awe on her face. Ron turned his head to see what she was staring at, as his fingers started slipping. He suddenly gasped as he saw an enormous dark mark, covering the entire expanse of the center of the room.
A/n: "Bitch say what?" is from the movie The New Guy. For anyone who's seen it, it's the part where he goes up to beat up the big popular jock the first time in front of the school and gets his ass kicked. Quite a funniful movie.
Due to her good mood, Hermione was starting to talk to her more often. Of course, Ron wasn't-she couldn't even meet his eyes now-and Harry still wasn't either, for some reason. It was actually because his scar was getting worse and worse as the year went on. And he still found it to only burn when he was around Fae.
Hermione was walking with her to breakfast. They passed by a window and looked outside. "Oh, bugger. It's starting to get cold outside. I hate the winter.." she sighed.
Fae's eyes went wide. "Are you mad? Winter's the best season in the whole year! I love the cold. And the snow, and the gray skies, and the ice," She smiled contently and seemed to go off into her own dreamland.
The other girl looked surprised. "Really? Oh, I love the spring."
Fae stuck her tongue out. "Yeck!"
"Now what are you going to tell me that's wrong with spring?" Hermione put her hand on her hip.
Fae sighed and began reciting. "As others were, I could not bring, my passions for.."
"..A common spring." A voice behind her finished her sentence. They turned around and saw Draco standing there, his usual smirk on his face. "Edgar Allan Poe. The only muggle I can come up with who could qualify for being considered brilliant."
Fae looked excited that she wasn't the only person who could recite lines from Poe's works. "Oh, yeah! I love him!" She exclaimed. She suddenly snapped her mouth shut, after she realized whom she was talking to.
Hermione looked confused, and Fae felt her face grow hot. If Draco tried to talk to her like he had before, she was definitely going to hear it from Herm. Fae cleared her throat and put her hand on the back of Hermione's shoulder, shoving her.
"See you later Draco nice talking to you bye." She said in one breath, and they disappeared into the Great Hall.
Hermione looked at her inquisitively (and Fae suddenly realized she was shorter than Herm). "What was that all about?" she questioned, and Fae felt her face grow hot again.
She shrugged. "I don't know what got into him."
"No, I meant with you." She said, looking at her with concern. "I don't mean to sound like your mother or anything, but I really don't think you should be hanging around Draco Malfoy. He's in the Slytherin house."
"So?"
"So that means something's wrong with him! Not a single witch or wizard who's come out of there hasn't gone to the dark side. And when he was first being sorted, the hat put him into Slytherin before he even had it on his head."
Fae looked around, but could only come up with another "So?"
"So! Good Lord, you are just like Ron! Draco's a bad person, Fae!" she exclaimed, and sighed. "I'm not trying to tell you what to do, just to guide you along a bit. I'm just looking out for you. As corny as that sounds."
Fae nodded, although Hermione could tell she was angry. She knew that one of her biggest pet peeves was when someone tried to tell her what to do, and she had seemed pretty stressed out over the last few months. Maybe she just needed to lay off.
"Come on." She said, and smiled. "I know what'll turn that frown upside down! Look at all those pancakes!"
Fae's eyes went wide. "Today is pancake day? Oh wow, there is a God!" She put her hands together like she was praying, and dramatically looked up into the sky and 'cried' tears of joy.
Hermione laughed and they practically skipped off to the breakfast table. About halfway through, owls came flying in.
"Ah, post's here." Fred proclaimed.
Fae laughed, rolling her eyes. "Wow! You're quick!" she exclaimed sarcastically, and stuck his tongue out. Her put his arm around her.
"I think I'm going to have to kill you." He said in a lowered tone, as if it were no big deal.
* "Bitch say what?" Fae exclaimed in a high-pitch American 'gangsta' voice. He and George practically fell over laughing-though it wasn't really that funny-as the owls swooped down over the house tables.
A brown owl flew over Fae's head and dropped a package. It was clear plastic, and looked like a parcel, with masking tape forming a cross over it. It was full of a white powder. It could easily be mistaken as some sort of illegal drug. Ron gasped.
"Harry! Look, it's Heroin! I told you she was a Columbian drug Lord!" he exclaimed, pointing to her parcel in shock.
The boy with the scar rolled his eyes. "Ron, she's a girl. She can't be a Lord."
He ignored his comment, and Fae glared daggers at the redhead. "It's flour, Ron." She spat, cracking her knuckles angrily. "For my Study of Muggles project. I took the class because I've lived with Muggles for fifteen years..I should ace it."
Ron suddenly looked embarrassed, as his ears went pink. "Uhhh, has anyone seen Tracy?" he changed the subject. Hermione massaged her temples and shook her head.
George loudly changed the subject. "So! When are we going to go to Hogsmeade?"
Fae squinted. "Whowhat?"
+ + +
"Ahhh, it's finally Friday." Fae sighed happily, and flopped down on her four-post bed. Hermione was sorting through her papers and organizing.
"Oh, bloody hell."
Fae looked over at her. "Hermione. You swore. You're improving." She sat up and looked outside. "I'm going to go walk around outside. I need fresh air. Wanna come with?"
She smiled and then shoved all over her books together. "No, I can't. I'm missing some of my notes I took; I suppose I should go to the Library and fix them. I know, I know, it's Friday." She said, knowing Fae was about to protest. "But I just want to get it out of the way now so I don't have to deal with it later."
"Alright" Fae sighed, and they walked out of the dormitories and into the common room, where Ron and Harry were talking. Fae could have sworn, if Ron was a cat, he would have hissed at her with his fur standing on end.
She raised her hands defensively as the painting-door swung open, and she and Hermione left the room. They reached the main corridor separating the Library and the door to head outside, and went their separate ways.
As Fae stepped out into the crisp fall air, she took in a deep breath and exhaled happily. Fall. Winter was coming soon. She let her feet carry her, and found herself winding around the school, her fingers tracing freely along the walls as she walked.
She had reached the south side of the school, towards the outside of the Potions class, when she heard shouting.
"Leave me alone, fat-ass!"
"Hmmm..no."
It was Ginny and someone else. Someone sounding very un-intelligent. She heard a second mentally declined voice laughing along with the other, and snarled. Crabbe and Goyle.
She peered around the corner of the school, and saw Crabbe pulling on her pigtail and Goyle going through her books, ripping the pages out. Fae bit her lip: to kick some ass, or not to kick some ass. That is the question.
Ginny clawed at Goyle, shouting for him to quit it and that she needed that book. They both knew good and well that the Weasleys weren't the most wealthy family, and she most likely wouldn't be able to afford another one of those books.
Goyle looked down on her and sneered. "Don't touch me." He said, putting his hand on her collarbone and pushing her to the ground. Fae glared; that was it. She stormed out of her hiding spot angrily.
"HEY!" she shouted, and pounded over to them. "You two puffs think you can mess with some girl a year younger than you?"
Crabbe and Goyle both folded their arms, trying to look intimidating. Ginny stood up and shrank back against the wall. One of her braids had come undone from the pulling, and she had some dirt and scuffmarks on her uniform.
Fae stopped just before them and glared at them. "What the hell do you think you're doing, picking the easy way out? If you wanna pick on someone, go on. Hit me."
She shoved him, and he stumbled back a bit. She shoved him again. "Come on, push me back! Push me back! What's the matter, you're scared now?"
She actually had no idea what she was doing; and now she realized just how stupid it was for her to have waltzed out and threatened two boys, twice her size and weight. She sometimes talked more than what she could do, and never ever thought before she acted; now being one of those times.
The two brain dead ones exchanged glances, and Goyle jerked his head in her direction, edging him to do it.
"What? Why don't you hit her?" Crabbe exclaimed.
"Because she's a girl!"
"Ginny's a girl too and you pushed her too!"
"Shh! Well this one's bigger than she is!"
"By like a bloody inch!"
Fae sighed and glared. "You're a bunch of brain dead puffs. You're not worth it." She said, somewhat hopeful they actually weren't going to hit her. She turned to Ginny, who was still against the wall.
"Hey, you all right?" she asked, and Ginny nodded.
"Yeah." She seemed a little annoyed, and Fae could understand why: she was making it look like she couldn't stick up for her self by rushing in there and fighting them off for her. Which wasn't the case by any means; she was a very independent girl. Although she probably wouldn't have done something as stupid as Fae and rushed in there to fight with two boys that were obviously much stronger than her.
Fae nodded. "Come on, let's get out of here." She said, and Ginny nodded.
"My thoughts exactly."
She smiled, but when she turned around, she was face-to-face with Goyle again. He put his hands on her shoulders and pushed her back as he had with Ginny. Apparently he applied more force, and she tumbled to the ground, and rolled once.
"Are you okay?" Ginny exclaimed, and shot Goyle a death glare.
Fae winced. "Yeah, I'm fine. The ground broke my fall." She said, and stood up. Crabbe was cackling like a madman, and Goyle had walked to her again. She met him halfway and pushed him back.
"Now you wanna fight?" she said, pushing him again before she gave herself time to think.
"Yeah." He said, and drew his fist back to punch her.
Fae ducked, which was very fortunate; she wouldn't have been able to block that blow to her jaw. When she stood back up, she knocked him down on his back and kneeled over his stomach. She probably wouldn't have been able to do that if he was expecting it; she wasn't exactly the strongest person, nor tallest or heaviest.
She grabbed him by the shirt collar and hit him once in the face, before he rolled over and did the same to her twice. She started using the palm of her hand and hitting him in the head, but he didn't seem to budge.
Struggling beneath him, she finally realized that he was a male. She forcefully kicked her leg up, nailing him right between the legs, and rolled back over on him. She hit him in the face a few times, managing to actually hit him on his nose, which had been her main target. However, he was still able to hit her across her face too, and she shouted when his fist connected with her mouth. Fae kept punching him and punching him harder, not sure whether she was hitting him or the ground.
The next thing she knew, forceful hands were grabbing her beneath the arms and fighting to get her off of him. She kept clawing at him, although she was mainly just getting air.
She turned her head around to see Fred was the one that was holding on to her, and she narrowed her eyes angrily.
"Let me go!" she screeched. Her fighting had taken over her body and now she was ready to kill anyone who even touched her.
Goyle was standing before her with a shocked expression on his face. The fight was apparently over on his side, and he didn't even look like he wanted to hit her any more. She, however, seemed to have turned into someone completely different. She was acting like someone who lived for fighting and hurting others.
Fae broke from Fred's grasp and grabbed Goyle by the collar once more, but both of the twins grabbed her again before she could do anything.
"Goyle, I'll kill you!" she screamed, as the twins held on to her arms. Suddenly, the impact of what happened hit her.
She had just got into a fight, mercilessly trying to hurt someone, and said she would kill Goyle. She really did want to kill someone.
Fae finally stopped struggling, and the twins loosened their grip. She looked around, suddenly noticing the crowd that had formed. It wasn't very large, but apparently large enough to attract a few teachers.
Professor McGonagall and Snape were storming over, the large, shouting crowd making the fight more conspicuous.
"Oh, shit." Fae whispered, shrinking back into the twins. Draco watched from the back, his ice blue eyes following her as the teachers drug her and Goyle into the school.
+ + +
"I am extremely disappointed in the both of you!" Professor McGonagall preached. They were sitting in her classroom, after they had visited the Hospital wing.
Goyle had a bloody nose and a black eye, and Fae had a black eye, a cut on her cheek and a rather large and ugly bruise on her leg. Her hair was messed up and her shirt collar was ripped, as well as his. She had a hole in her jeans and they were both covered in dirt and scuffmarks. Fae also had a red mark on her arm from Snape's grip as he drug her in the school; he apparently didn't know his own strength, or maybe he did want to hurt her. That sounded more like him. She obviously had more physical damage than Goyle, but he dreaded hearing it from everyone how a girl had beat his tail.
"Fae, this is your third time being in trouble so far, and the second time for fighting. I don't understand the basis of its appeal; girls don't fight."
She shot her an unnoticed glare. A female teacher was being sexist towards other females; what an oxymoron.
"I'm just as disappointed with Goyle, but surprisingly, he's decided to abide to the rules this year. I don't know why either of you think that you have the right to just disobey and disregard Hogwarts code."
After some more preaching to neither of them really listened to, she excused Goyle. After he left and shut the door, glaring at Fae the whole way out, Professor McGonagall folded her hands on her desk and leaned forward.
"Fae, what exactly happened? Why did you fight with Goyle?"
She swallowed hard and finally let the tears reflect in her eyes. She had been holding them back until Goyle had left; never let them see you cry. "They were picking on Ginny." She said, choking over the knot in her throat.
"Who were?"
"Crabbe and Goyle." She said, sniffing. She felt like such a baby crying, and she wiped her eyes with the heel of her hand. "They were both picking on Ginny, and he pushed her to the ground and I lost it.
I didn't really want to fight him.I just acted before I thought. For a minute I thought I wouldn't have to, but then he started pushing me and I just pushed him back, and it started from there."
Professor McGonagall nodded, her expression unreadable. She seemed to be in deep thought. "Fae, dear." She said, and the younger girl stared at the ground. She sighed and took off her glasses, rubbing her eyes.
"I hate to say this but, if your behavior doesn't get any better," she paused, and put her spectacles back on. "I'm afraid you're going to have to leave Hogwarts."
+ + +
Fae mumbled the password to get into the Gryffindor common room, and wiped her eyes one last time as the painting swung open. It was no use; her cheeks still looked glossy and her eyes were red. She sniffed and put her head down, hoping they wouldn't see.
Thankfully, only Ron, Harry, and Hermione were in there. When she saw her appearance, Hermione did a double take.
"Fae! What happened?" she gasped.
"I fell." She mumbled, and trudged up the stairs to the girl's dormitories. The sound of a door shutting echoed throughout the common room, sounding final.
Harry and Ron exchanged glances, and the twins came in shortly after.
"Do you know what happened to Fae?" Harry asked quietly, and they nodded. Fred ran a hand through his hair and started telling them what had happened. Soon, everyone knew the whole story, and Ron didn't say anything smart for once. Hermione sighed with concern. "I'm going to go check on her." She said, and stood up.
She walked up to the girls' dormitories and knocked gently. She received no answer, and slowly opened the door.
+ + +
"Is she okay?" Fred finally asked no one in particular. Hermione had been gone for an hour or so, and he had begun pacing. He received no answer, and George stood up.
"I'll go check." He said. Ron stood up too.
"I'll go with you." He mumbled, surprising everyone.
Still no one said much as the two brothers crept up the stairs, and stood outside the girls' dormitory. The door was open a crack, and they peered inside, as silent as two little mice. The two girls were sitting on a bed, and Fae's head was in Hermione's lap as she fingered her hair. They heard Hermione speaking, though it was inaudible. She was answered by Fae's quiet sobbing and a few words here and there.
George sighed and looked at the ground, and put his hand on Ron's shoulder. "C'mon, let's go." He said, and they headed back downstairs.
Harry and George looked up hopefully, but received a sad look from Fred, and sunk back down into their seats.
+ + +
Rumors about the fight swarmed through the corridors that following Monday, and Fae found it especially noticeable when she walked by. Echoes and whispers of her name, and piercing Slytherin eyes didn't really make her journey from class to class enjoyable.
Care of Magical Creatures was the worst. Throughout the entire class, insults, whispering and hysterical laughter sounded while they looked at her in disgust. It was all from the Slytherins, and she even received a few spitballs on her face. However, Draco's substitute-of-where-a-heart-should- be seemed to let off on that day, too. At least there was one less person she had to deal with.
She kept her eyes down on her desk throughout Hagrid's entire demonstration on Faux, Albus Dumbledore's pet Phoenix. He had supposedly gotten it just in time for them to be able to watch the Phoenix burst into flames and a new one rise from its ashes.
She saw Pavarti walking to her desk, and raised her head to watch her. She didn't know how she didn't see it coming; her obvious attempts to not look at Fae, and the bucket of water in her hands used for putting out the Phoenix flames.
"Oh, oops!" Pavarti exclaimed, 'tripping' and spilling her entire bucket of water over Fae's head.
The class erupted into laughter, even some of the Gryffindors. The water spilled over Fae's hair, completely drenching her blouse and most of her skirt. Of course, her shirt was white, and became transparent as the water soaked in.
She turned to Pavarti and raised her hand to slap her, but stopped herself. She couldn't do anything about it, and she knew. Pavarti knew that if she got in trouble just once more, then she was to be expelled.
"Ohhh, I'm so sorry, Fae!" she said, putting her hand on her shoulder. "I forgot this." She put the bucket over her head, and walked away. Of course, the class erupted into even more laughter, as Hagrid tried to calm everyone down.
Fae grabbed the bucket off of her head, and screamed on the top of her lungs. Most everyone was silent as she threw the bucket on the ground and ran out of the class.
"Mudbloods!" the Slytherin class shouted in unison, and started throwing crumpled up paper, most of them aiming for Hermione. They had planned some sort of attack involving the entire house. Just to make them look stupid, too. Well, they had succeeded.
Hagrid turned to Ron. "Will you go get Fae, please?" he said.
Ron started to protest, but Hagrid had already moved on to the paper war. He turned to Harry with a worried look on his face, but found him to not be in his seat. He was behind the twins, throwing paper back at the Slytherins.
He sighed and ran out the door, chasing after Fae. As he stepped into the gray-sky morning, he caught a glimpse of Fae running into the main door to the school.
"Hey, wait!" he shouted, although he knew there was no way he could hear her. He broke into a run and headed for the school.
He had reached the inside of the school, and hadn't seen any signs of Fae. He wandered around, checking the Library, even waiting outside the girls' bathrooms. Finally, he heard a door shut. He ran up the staircases and saw a single door; the other was way down the corridor and he wouldn't have been able to hear it shut as clearly.
As he walked closer, he noticed that it was the door Fae had hidden in when he and Tracy were in the hall. He grabbed the handle, and pulled with all his might; it was locked.
He pulled out his wand and pointed it at the door. "Alohamora." He said, and there was a clicking sound. Pulling the door again, it finally moved. As soon as he had it opened all the way, an enormous explosion of cold air greeted him. He gasped and grabbed onto the door before he was swept away. The air didn't let up, and a loud howling sounded; it was as if he were on the inside of a tornado.
Peering inside, he saw Fae, shrunken up against a wall. She seemed to not be able to move because the wind pushing her back, and she was looking into the vast darkness with a look of awe on her face. Ron turned his head to see what she was staring at, as his fingers started slipping. He suddenly gasped as he saw an enormous dark mark, covering the entire expanse of the center of the room.
A/n: "Bitch say what?" is from the movie The New Guy. For anyone who's seen it, it's the part where he goes up to beat up the big popular jock the first time in front of the school and gets his ass kicked. Quite a funniful movie.