~ Chapter One: Coming Back ~
I looked around. I didn't see anyone I knew. Stupid of me to even look, of course, no one I knew would be here. I was the only one of my friends that was like this. I was the only one heading off to the school. It's been like this since I was eleven, heading off to this school at the end of the summer, and not getting to see any of my real friends till Christmas. I loaded my things onto the train, and found an empty compartment. I put my things on the shelf, and sat down. I was looking forward to the ride there, and being by myself. My parents had jibber- jabbered in my ear the whole time since they got the letter. Oh, how proud they were, their little baby girl, a witch. Well, I for one didn't like it. It took me away from all my friends.
I felt the tug and the pull of the train as it headed off. I watched out the window as all I knew fell behind. I laid my head against the cool glass. I remembered the last time I was on this train. That dreadful Malfoy tried to sneak a peek up my skirt. I gave him a good slug. That was when I was 15. Now I was 16. A few minutes later I shut my eyes, and almost fell asleep. I heard the compartment door open. I looked up to see two boys and a girl pushing their things into my compartment.
"I'm sorry if we're intruding, but this is the only compartment left on the train where we can all sit," said the girl, putting her stuff up next to the redheaded boys. The one with the black hair and glasses had put his things up next to mine and sat down next to me. I didn't say anything, just continued to stare out the window.
"That's No Talk Braden," I heard the redheaded boy whisper to the girl, "they call her that 'cause she don't talk to no one."
"I do talk," I said, finally looking at him, "I just don't talk to idiots like you who listen to silly rumors."
The girl laughed as the redheaded boy blushed a deep red. The boy with the glasses smiled wide. The girl stuck out her hand.
"How about some proper introductions? I'm Hermione Granger, this" she said, gesturing to the redhead, "is Ron Weasley, and that," she said, pointing to the boy next to me, "is Harry Potter."
I shook Ron and Harry's hand.
"My name isn't No Talk Braden, Mister Weasley, it's Terra. Terra Braden. Thanks for asking."
"Sorry," he said, blushing again.
"So," said Harry, "what year are you? We're sixth years."
"So am I," I said, "I'm in Slytherian. I hate this school though."
"Oh, you do?" asked Hermione, a look of concern crossing her face, "Why?"
"I don't have any friends. No one likes talking to a mudblood anymore."
"Well," said Hermione, smiling, "you just found yourself some friends. I'm also muggleborn."
I smiled.
"Yeah," said Harry, "we'll be friends with you."
I started to like these people very much.
~ * ~ * ~
When we got to the school, we unloaded our things. I was looking for a carriage when I heard that dreadful voice again.
"Hey, No Talk, how about you ride with me?"
I turned around. Draco Malfoy was standing right behind me. He was always trying to get into my pants. He also realized the first time that I wasn't like most Slytherians. I was a good girl. I didn't say anything to him; I just kept on looking for a carriage. Draco and his goonies stumbled over to where I was standing.
"Come on, Terra," he said, "talk to me, you know you want to."
He pinched my hip. I turned around and slugged him. Crabbe and Goyle helped him up as I turned away. But before I could get away, Draco grabbed me.
"How dare you? You filthy little Mudblood."
I slapped him. He grabbed my wrist and applied pressure. I cried out in pain.
"Never touch me again, Braden, or I'll have to take care of you."
"What's going on here?"
Hermione, Harry, and Ron walked over to us. Harry was eyeing the way Malfoy was gripping my wrist.
"Let go of her!" he said, starting forward. Ron held him back.
"We were just talking, Potty," Draco said, finally letting go of my wrist, "I was just leaving."
"That's what I thought," said Harry, walking over to stand by me. Hermione came over a looked at my wrist.
"Oh, dear, that will definitely leave a mark," she said, casting a hateful glance at Malfoy as he and his goonies walked off to their carriage, laughing. I looked at my wrist, and I already saw bits of purple and blue showing in the red handprint on it.
"Don't listen to him, Terra," said Harry, putting his hand on my shoulder, "he's just a bully."
I nodded, and headed off to a carriage. They followed me, and rode with me to the castle. I didn't say anything for the first few minutes. Ron broke the silence.
"Why don't you talk a lot?" he said, getting a jab in the ribs from Hermione.
I sighed.
"Because I'm not used to talking to people. I don't even talk a lot at home."
"How could you go here six years without making any friends?"
"It was easy. Especially when you are in Slytherian."
Harry looked at me.
"How come you're in Slytherian?" he asked, "you're not anything like them."
I nodded.
"I know. The sorting hat said that I would be fit for Gryffindor, but at the time.." I stopped, embarrassed.
"What?" asked Hermione.
".I had a crush on Draco, and begged it to let me be in Slytherian."
A look of utter stun crossed all their faces.
"You liked Malfoy?" Ron asked, shocked.
"Yes," I said, blushing. The carriage bounced along the road. "He was actually being nice to me at the point. I thought he was kind of cute. But then when I got into Slytherian, he just started ignoring me, so all the other kids did, too. Well, he stopped ignoring me when I started filling out."
At this Hermione laughed.
"Yes, a lot of guys are like that, especially in Slytherian."
I smiled.
"Don't worry," said Harry, "we won't let him do anything to you."
"Thank you." I said, looking at him. He smiled, and I smiled back.
~ * ~ * ~
I sat down at the Slytherian table, by myself like I've always done, when we got inside. I sat in the back, where no one could talk to me and I would be alone. The roof was showing the pouring rain from outside. Soon, the first years arrived. As they were put under the sorting hat, I put my head on my arms, and rested against the table. I closed my eyes, and felt myself fall into sleep with the sound of the rain.
.I heard Harry.he was screaming spells.I tried to find him, but I was in the dark.I heard him scream Hermiones name.I heard Ron crying. an evil laugh.chills up and down my spine.it was him. He-Who-Must-Not-Be- Named.Voldemort.
As the name reverberated through my head, I awoke, and screamed. Dumbledore had been giving his speech, and I had interrupted it. I saw the people at my table smirking.
"Child, are you alright?" asked Dumbledore from the front of the room. I nodded, and waited till he resumed his speech. I swore I saw Snape eyeing me from the front of the room, but I didn't care. I got up and slipped out, heading down the hallway. Nobody would find me out here. They were all in the Great Hall. I went out into the courtyard. I sat down at the fountain. As I sat there, I heard footsteps.
"What happened?" asked Harry, sitting down next to me.
"I had a bad dream, that's all."
"About what?"
"About nothing," I said, not wanting to tell him, "just a nightmare."
"Well, if you're alright."
"I am. Thank you for caring."
"He won't be caring for long when you're both in detention."
Snape came walking towards us.
"Both of you are supposed to be in the Great Hall. Not out here having a heart to heart chat, Ms. Braden, Mr. Potter. Now, Potter, go to Professor McGonagall's office, and wait for her there. Ms. Braden, please come with me."
I waved goodbye to Harry, and followed Snape to his office. He shut the door behind her, headed over to his desk, and started rummaging through the papers on his desk. It was very messy. He finally found what he was looking for, wrote a few things on it, and handed me the detention slip.
I turned to leave, but Snape stopped me.
"I ought to give you detention for hitting Malfoy, too, Ms. Braden. Do you have any reasons why I shouldn't?"
"He started it."
"I don't care who started it. You shouldn't have hit him."
"No, sir, I guess I shouldn't have, but he was being an evil little bugger like usual."
A look of annoyance flashed across his face.
"Very well, just consider this a warning. Next time, you will get more than a week of detention if you or Malfoy so much as harm a hair on each other's head. Understand? Good, then you can go."
I left him going through his notes. I headed towards my dormitory. When I got to the painting, I said the password, and climbed through the passageway. Everyone was apparently still at the feast. My stomach growled. I hadn't eaten anything all day. I went upstairs to my bed and grabbed some Every Flavored Beans, and sat there eating for a few minutes. After I'd had too many booger flavored ones, I put them away and went to bed.
~ * ~ * ~
".Yeah, there she is.sleeping. don't drop it!!"
I felt cold-water splash all over me. I jumped out of bed a looked around. Pansy Parkinson and a bunch of the girls had brought a jug of water up to the dormitory and dumped it all over her. Pansy and her friends were laughing. I started picking up my blankets to take to the washing room. As I changed, I heard Pansy talking about me.
"Yeah, I heard she doesn't talk because her parents abuse her. I personally think she deserves it. She's a spoiled little."
At this I ripped open my curtains and stepped out. I'd had enough.
"You," I said, enjoying the look of surprise on the girls' faces, "have no room to talk, Pansy Parkinson. You are the spoiled little brat here. You think you're better than everyone else. Probably think you're Malfoys girlfriend, too, don't you?"
Pansy just stared at me, her mouth hanging wide open.
"That's what I thought, you little bug. Now you stop talking about me, because I know certain things about you and your little friends that you stupidly talked about around me, thinking I couldn't talk. And trust me, keeping a picture of Malfoy under your pillow is the least of your problems. I would love to make your life a living hell."
With that, I stormed downstairs to the Great Hall. I had barely eaten anything when Hermione came over and invited me to sit with them.
"Is that even allowed?" I asked.
"Oh, I'm sure it is."
So I consented, and followed her over to where Harry and Ron were sitting. I heard whispered coming from all around the Great Hall when I sat down across from Harry. People didn't usually sit at a different House table then their own. I just ignored it.
"Did you take a shower this morning?" asked Ron, "Your hair's all wet."
"Yeah," I lied.
We ate together. After a while we showed each other our schedules.
"Amazing," said Ron, "Terra, you and Harry have every class together."
"Yeah, it is," he said, looking at me. I smiled.
"Yes, and it appears you have Divination first," said Hermione, "oh, how I dislike that woman."
Fred and George Weasley made their way over to where we were sitting.
"Wow, Terra," said George, "I heard about how you slugged Malfoy. Good show, old bean."
"I've always wanted to do that," said Fred, "but I can't believe a girl beat me to it."
We all laughed. I realized how much having friends could be.
I looked around. I didn't see anyone I knew. Stupid of me to even look, of course, no one I knew would be here. I was the only one of my friends that was like this. I was the only one heading off to the school. It's been like this since I was eleven, heading off to this school at the end of the summer, and not getting to see any of my real friends till Christmas. I loaded my things onto the train, and found an empty compartment. I put my things on the shelf, and sat down. I was looking forward to the ride there, and being by myself. My parents had jibber- jabbered in my ear the whole time since they got the letter. Oh, how proud they were, their little baby girl, a witch. Well, I for one didn't like it. It took me away from all my friends.
I felt the tug and the pull of the train as it headed off. I watched out the window as all I knew fell behind. I laid my head against the cool glass. I remembered the last time I was on this train. That dreadful Malfoy tried to sneak a peek up my skirt. I gave him a good slug. That was when I was 15. Now I was 16. A few minutes later I shut my eyes, and almost fell asleep. I heard the compartment door open. I looked up to see two boys and a girl pushing their things into my compartment.
"I'm sorry if we're intruding, but this is the only compartment left on the train where we can all sit," said the girl, putting her stuff up next to the redheaded boys. The one with the black hair and glasses had put his things up next to mine and sat down next to me. I didn't say anything, just continued to stare out the window.
"That's No Talk Braden," I heard the redheaded boy whisper to the girl, "they call her that 'cause she don't talk to no one."
"I do talk," I said, finally looking at him, "I just don't talk to idiots like you who listen to silly rumors."
The girl laughed as the redheaded boy blushed a deep red. The boy with the glasses smiled wide. The girl stuck out her hand.
"How about some proper introductions? I'm Hermione Granger, this" she said, gesturing to the redhead, "is Ron Weasley, and that," she said, pointing to the boy next to me, "is Harry Potter."
I shook Ron and Harry's hand.
"My name isn't No Talk Braden, Mister Weasley, it's Terra. Terra Braden. Thanks for asking."
"Sorry," he said, blushing again.
"So," said Harry, "what year are you? We're sixth years."
"So am I," I said, "I'm in Slytherian. I hate this school though."
"Oh, you do?" asked Hermione, a look of concern crossing her face, "Why?"
"I don't have any friends. No one likes talking to a mudblood anymore."
"Well," said Hermione, smiling, "you just found yourself some friends. I'm also muggleborn."
I smiled.
"Yeah," said Harry, "we'll be friends with you."
I started to like these people very much.
~ * ~ * ~
When we got to the school, we unloaded our things. I was looking for a carriage when I heard that dreadful voice again.
"Hey, No Talk, how about you ride with me?"
I turned around. Draco Malfoy was standing right behind me. He was always trying to get into my pants. He also realized the first time that I wasn't like most Slytherians. I was a good girl. I didn't say anything to him; I just kept on looking for a carriage. Draco and his goonies stumbled over to where I was standing.
"Come on, Terra," he said, "talk to me, you know you want to."
He pinched my hip. I turned around and slugged him. Crabbe and Goyle helped him up as I turned away. But before I could get away, Draco grabbed me.
"How dare you? You filthy little Mudblood."
I slapped him. He grabbed my wrist and applied pressure. I cried out in pain.
"Never touch me again, Braden, or I'll have to take care of you."
"What's going on here?"
Hermione, Harry, and Ron walked over to us. Harry was eyeing the way Malfoy was gripping my wrist.
"Let go of her!" he said, starting forward. Ron held him back.
"We were just talking, Potty," Draco said, finally letting go of my wrist, "I was just leaving."
"That's what I thought," said Harry, walking over to stand by me. Hermione came over a looked at my wrist.
"Oh, dear, that will definitely leave a mark," she said, casting a hateful glance at Malfoy as he and his goonies walked off to their carriage, laughing. I looked at my wrist, and I already saw bits of purple and blue showing in the red handprint on it.
"Don't listen to him, Terra," said Harry, putting his hand on my shoulder, "he's just a bully."
I nodded, and headed off to a carriage. They followed me, and rode with me to the castle. I didn't say anything for the first few minutes. Ron broke the silence.
"Why don't you talk a lot?" he said, getting a jab in the ribs from Hermione.
I sighed.
"Because I'm not used to talking to people. I don't even talk a lot at home."
"How could you go here six years without making any friends?"
"It was easy. Especially when you are in Slytherian."
Harry looked at me.
"How come you're in Slytherian?" he asked, "you're not anything like them."
I nodded.
"I know. The sorting hat said that I would be fit for Gryffindor, but at the time.." I stopped, embarrassed.
"What?" asked Hermione.
".I had a crush on Draco, and begged it to let me be in Slytherian."
A look of utter stun crossed all their faces.
"You liked Malfoy?" Ron asked, shocked.
"Yes," I said, blushing. The carriage bounced along the road. "He was actually being nice to me at the point. I thought he was kind of cute. But then when I got into Slytherian, he just started ignoring me, so all the other kids did, too. Well, he stopped ignoring me when I started filling out."
At this Hermione laughed.
"Yes, a lot of guys are like that, especially in Slytherian."
I smiled.
"Don't worry," said Harry, "we won't let him do anything to you."
"Thank you." I said, looking at him. He smiled, and I smiled back.
~ * ~ * ~
I sat down at the Slytherian table, by myself like I've always done, when we got inside. I sat in the back, where no one could talk to me and I would be alone. The roof was showing the pouring rain from outside. Soon, the first years arrived. As they were put under the sorting hat, I put my head on my arms, and rested against the table. I closed my eyes, and felt myself fall into sleep with the sound of the rain.
.I heard Harry.he was screaming spells.I tried to find him, but I was in the dark.I heard him scream Hermiones name.I heard Ron crying. an evil laugh.chills up and down my spine.it was him. He-Who-Must-Not-Be- Named.Voldemort.
As the name reverberated through my head, I awoke, and screamed. Dumbledore had been giving his speech, and I had interrupted it. I saw the people at my table smirking.
"Child, are you alright?" asked Dumbledore from the front of the room. I nodded, and waited till he resumed his speech. I swore I saw Snape eyeing me from the front of the room, but I didn't care. I got up and slipped out, heading down the hallway. Nobody would find me out here. They were all in the Great Hall. I went out into the courtyard. I sat down at the fountain. As I sat there, I heard footsteps.
"What happened?" asked Harry, sitting down next to me.
"I had a bad dream, that's all."
"About what?"
"About nothing," I said, not wanting to tell him, "just a nightmare."
"Well, if you're alright."
"I am. Thank you for caring."
"He won't be caring for long when you're both in detention."
Snape came walking towards us.
"Both of you are supposed to be in the Great Hall. Not out here having a heart to heart chat, Ms. Braden, Mr. Potter. Now, Potter, go to Professor McGonagall's office, and wait for her there. Ms. Braden, please come with me."
I waved goodbye to Harry, and followed Snape to his office. He shut the door behind her, headed over to his desk, and started rummaging through the papers on his desk. It was very messy. He finally found what he was looking for, wrote a few things on it, and handed me the detention slip.
I turned to leave, but Snape stopped me.
"I ought to give you detention for hitting Malfoy, too, Ms. Braden. Do you have any reasons why I shouldn't?"
"He started it."
"I don't care who started it. You shouldn't have hit him."
"No, sir, I guess I shouldn't have, but he was being an evil little bugger like usual."
A look of annoyance flashed across his face.
"Very well, just consider this a warning. Next time, you will get more than a week of detention if you or Malfoy so much as harm a hair on each other's head. Understand? Good, then you can go."
I left him going through his notes. I headed towards my dormitory. When I got to the painting, I said the password, and climbed through the passageway. Everyone was apparently still at the feast. My stomach growled. I hadn't eaten anything all day. I went upstairs to my bed and grabbed some Every Flavored Beans, and sat there eating for a few minutes. After I'd had too many booger flavored ones, I put them away and went to bed.
~ * ~ * ~
".Yeah, there she is.sleeping. don't drop it!!"
I felt cold-water splash all over me. I jumped out of bed a looked around. Pansy Parkinson and a bunch of the girls had brought a jug of water up to the dormitory and dumped it all over her. Pansy and her friends were laughing. I started picking up my blankets to take to the washing room. As I changed, I heard Pansy talking about me.
"Yeah, I heard she doesn't talk because her parents abuse her. I personally think she deserves it. She's a spoiled little."
At this I ripped open my curtains and stepped out. I'd had enough.
"You," I said, enjoying the look of surprise on the girls' faces, "have no room to talk, Pansy Parkinson. You are the spoiled little brat here. You think you're better than everyone else. Probably think you're Malfoys girlfriend, too, don't you?"
Pansy just stared at me, her mouth hanging wide open.
"That's what I thought, you little bug. Now you stop talking about me, because I know certain things about you and your little friends that you stupidly talked about around me, thinking I couldn't talk. And trust me, keeping a picture of Malfoy under your pillow is the least of your problems. I would love to make your life a living hell."
With that, I stormed downstairs to the Great Hall. I had barely eaten anything when Hermione came over and invited me to sit with them.
"Is that even allowed?" I asked.
"Oh, I'm sure it is."
So I consented, and followed her over to where Harry and Ron were sitting. I heard whispered coming from all around the Great Hall when I sat down across from Harry. People didn't usually sit at a different House table then their own. I just ignored it.
"Did you take a shower this morning?" asked Ron, "Your hair's all wet."
"Yeah," I lied.
We ate together. After a while we showed each other our schedules.
"Amazing," said Ron, "Terra, you and Harry have every class together."
"Yeah, it is," he said, looking at me. I smiled.
"Yes, and it appears you have Divination first," said Hermione, "oh, how I dislike that woman."
Fred and George Weasley made their way over to where we were sitting.
"Wow, Terra," said George, "I heard about how you slugged Malfoy. Good show, old bean."
"I've always wanted to do that," said Fred, "but I can't believe a girl beat me to it."
We all laughed. I realized how much having friends could be.