~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~X~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"How does he know what the password to my bed chamber is?" She voiced aloud to herself suspiciously, once she was inside. That tall but surly and dark man was already beginning to bother her. "What's his problem?" she sighed, arranging her clothes into cupboards and drawers.
"Don't let him bother you dear, I'll sort him out later anyway." a malicious and sarcastic female voice drawled inside her head.
"Oh you shut up and go away!"
"But why? I want to come out and play." it laughed naughtily.
"Not yet! It's not time. Leave me alone and let me think for two seconds." She insisted. "I had you murmuring in my ear all evening during that dinner about who you thought was sexy and what you reckoned was under their robes! C'mon I'm only here and already I can't look at some teachers in the eye beside because of what you've said about them!" Giving up, she flung off her shoes, wriggled her toes and flopped out on top of the bed.
"Done yet?" asked a politely proper voice.
Scowling furiously with a rouge hint in her cheeks, she snapped. "Alright. Alright! I'll feed you. But you had better not wake me up before 6:00 any morning this week, OK?!"
"You know, you ought to be more careful, people will get suspicious with all this shouting."
"So? The worst is they'll think is I'm crazy." She said carelessly.
"And that's alright with you is it? The cold voice grew sterner. "You still ignore me and treat me as such an inconvenience. Listen, you're not the one having to sit there taking orders from a teacher of Hogwarts! It didn't used to be this way, you know."
"Boohoo. I'm sure. Look I'm not going to sit here and let you reminisce all night." She answered mockingly.
"Watch your tongue!" the voice growled threateningly. "Next time you try and shove me 'out-of-your-face', it might be more than salt you spill."
"What's that meant to mean?" she asked suspiciously, but with a satisfied smile at having successfully annoyed her 'other'.
"Well," the voice pondered thoughtfully "it seems that I get hungry when you get angry, like now."
"I get the point." She threw a dirty look towards the door. "I'm fed up feeding you. When are you going to learn to hunt yourself? Oh yes, when you can be TRUSTED." The young woman emphasized the last sentence particularly.
The voice that felt like a frosty gale on a baby's skin deepened savagely, and hissed into her ear with regal authority. "You will feed me now as I wish, Nebula Regina Zirconia. Remember who you are."
"Grumpy tonight, aren't we?" The young woman conceded, exasperated. "I'm sorry but you're not making things any easier for me. Though you are right, grandmamma Vashti, as always."
Reluctantly, she rolled up the sleeve of her left arm, exposing pure, untouched flesh. Then without looking, she ran a long, black fingernail from the base her palm to the joint in her arm. Clenching her fist, Nebula turned to watch as the strong, taut tendons sprung out at the wrist, followed slowly by thin, dark veins.
"Take only enough to allow you to become visible tonight." The suddenly dark eyed young woman added with disgust. "I will know if you take more."
An icy chill spread over her arm until it seemed almost numb. Glancing down, she felt at first two firm hands hot with anticipation hold her arm still and an invisible mouth press against her skin. Then, a sharp, yet sickeningly pleasurable pain shot from that place. Opening her eyes that held back tears of loathing, she saw two small slits appear in her flesh. Then slowly from the punctures began to leak thin, purple blood.
It was the poison that kept her alive. But she no longer wanted to live. Almost every night of her life had involved this ritual. All because of a fatal mistake made a long time ago.
Minutes seemed to pass like hours, cold and painful, until finally the darkness enveloped her mind. As always, though, in the last closing moments of consciousness, she saw the figure of a tall, slender woman, remarkably like herself except with pitch black hair and cruel vivid green eyes to rival her dress. This 'woman' was standing at the end of her bed, flexing her long fingers as if they were new. Cackling evilly, she gave the impression of a very bad boy, with a new and very powerful toy.
********************
"Doing a spot of drinking last night, were we? That was quick!" Professor Flitwick inquired, as the new teacher held her head in her hands over the breakfast table, moaning about a headache. "You should've told us, we'd have given you some company! But don't worry; we have our ways with dealing with hangovers civilly. I'm sure if you ask Professor Snape he will-"
"No it's alright.I'll be OK thanks." Nebula didn't think she could handle another close encounter of the 'Snape' kind so soon. His breath didn't exactly have that 'hint of minty freshness' to it either when he was that close. Next time she might say something that well, wouldn't quite encourage good relations between them. Besides she doubted whether he could give her anything to help her predicament. Normally she would've taken a potion that she procured herself, containing healing and strengthening properties, but it also contained some very special ingredients that at times were hard to come by - vampire fangs over 1000 years old, or a drop of blood from an Animagus; werewolf claws; and most importantly, Diamantez. These things were understandably very hard to come by, and those few black-market peddlers that could get their hands on them, drove a very hard bargain. But they were crucial - they alone could stop the reversal of a curse that was put on her a long time ago. It was a good curse, though, if there was one, which was meant to give her life back socially and perhaps physically. Yet if only, it had worked properly..
~
Life before then was hell. Her thoughts were never secret, and her control over her own body was limited. Every moment she fought an inner battle with herself for control; a losing battle. Interaction with people was rarely an option. Who knows the chaos she might cause, knowingly or not? She was regarded as a schizophrenic - a lunatic even, but much more powerful. Inside her was something that spiritually inhabited her body. Ruling her. Using her for its own ends, eventually.
No, she could not go back to those days. They were too long and painful. This creature, once human, kept Nebula barely alive, but immortal, at the price of living off her life force.
She had never wanted it so, but when she was a child, naive and pure, this torment had been forced upon her by her very mother. Her loving, cherishing mother. Perhaps, she didn't want to corrupt her daughter but just had no choice, as she didn't used to have a choice, Nebula considered in a moment of mercy, long after the event. But it was too late now. What was done, was done. She just had to live with the consequences of other peoples' actions and greedy desires. She had been forced to live with her "grandmother" Vashti, inside her very soul. Commanding. Corrupting. Nebula despised her.
Always moaning about how it was her power that made her descendant so strong, calling her a weakling and a disgrace. What real joy it was to have that wench purged from her soul! But that was all, purged. Nebula wanted her to burn in the consuming fires of Hell that some Muggles believed in. Yet she knew deep in her heart that this could never be. No one could submit Vashti to eternal torment, she thought amusedly. Her 'grandmother' (really her great-great-great something) was never one to brag too much about her abilities, she just let people know what she was really capable of; and if they didn't believe her, she would willingly give them a first hand demonstration. Her arrogance was probably her biggest weakness.
~
A large bell rang nearby on the wall, signalling the start of classes. It also aroused Nebula from her memories with a start. 'I need to get a pensieve' she concluded. The Great Hall that she was only beginning to grow accustomed to was emptying of students and teachers. Nebula rose having eaten little, and walked dreamily down the Hall then through passages and down staircases into the dungeons. She had a good memory and didn't need to be told twice which way it was to her classroom and chambers, luckily.
"Vashti!" she whispered, when no one was around. "Vashti, come I will leave you in my chambers to occupy yourself during my classes. Don't worry I'll visit you once or twice a day." A cold voice replied in her ear irritably,
"As I expected. Why have you told the snakes on the door to deny me entrance or otherwise?"
"Because I can't have you wandering around the school causing havoc wherever you go - and don't give me that look, yes the one I know is on you face right now - I know what you're like." The woman replied, shutting her up. Walking up to her door and ushering the invisible being inside, she murmured to herself shaking her head, "That's one disadvantage of no longer being completely mentally connected to her, you can never be sure of what scheme she's planning next. Nor if she's even standing beside you for that matter, it could just be a cold breeze wafting by. Maybe I am crazy, standing here muttering to myself. Oh dear, I NEED the Diamantez!"
And so she left, striding annoyed along the last corridor to her classroom in the dungeons, with the skirt of the same emerald-green dress that she had worn on her first day at Hogwarts billowing furiously behind her, rivalling even Professor Snape's glorious black satin cloak that rippled gently in the draft along that very same corridor, as the wearer listened intently to her every word. Then, calmly, a pale hand reached up from the darkness, twisted a nearby unlit candle hanging on the wall, and blended smoothly into the black shadows of the hidden passage behind.
*********************
Next: her first class!! And of course HP, RW and HG will be there to witness it. Some more sinister things are revealed too.Harry and Hermione discover things about Miss Zirconia that lead them further into her already murky past.and what is Diamantez? Why is it so hard to get hold of? And what is this potion it's so vital for?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~X~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"How does he know what the password to my bed chamber is?" She voiced aloud to herself suspiciously, once she was inside. That tall but surly and dark man was already beginning to bother her. "What's his problem?" she sighed, arranging her clothes into cupboards and drawers.
"Don't let him bother you dear, I'll sort him out later anyway." a malicious and sarcastic female voice drawled inside her head.
"Oh you shut up and go away!"
"But why? I want to come out and play." it laughed naughtily.
"Not yet! It's not time. Leave me alone and let me think for two seconds." She insisted. "I had you murmuring in my ear all evening during that dinner about who you thought was sexy and what you reckoned was under their robes! C'mon I'm only here and already I can't look at some teachers in the eye beside because of what you've said about them!" Giving up, she flung off her shoes, wriggled her toes and flopped out on top of the bed.
"Done yet?" asked a politely proper voice.
Scowling furiously with a rouge hint in her cheeks, she snapped. "Alright. Alright! I'll feed you. But you had better not wake me up before 6:00 any morning this week, OK?!"
"You know, you ought to be more careful, people will get suspicious with all this shouting."
"So? The worst is they'll think is I'm crazy." She said carelessly.
"And that's alright with you is it? The cold voice grew sterner. "You still ignore me and treat me as such an inconvenience. Listen, you're not the one having to sit there taking orders from a teacher of Hogwarts! It didn't used to be this way, you know."
"Boohoo. I'm sure. Look I'm not going to sit here and let you reminisce all night." She answered mockingly.
"Watch your tongue!" the voice growled threateningly. "Next time you try and shove me 'out-of-your-face', it might be more than salt you spill."
"What's that meant to mean?" she asked suspiciously, but with a satisfied smile at having successfully annoyed her 'other'.
"Well," the voice pondered thoughtfully "it seems that I get hungry when you get angry, like now."
"I get the point." She threw a dirty look towards the door. "I'm fed up feeding you. When are you going to learn to hunt yourself? Oh yes, when you can be TRUSTED." The young woman emphasized the last sentence particularly.
The voice that felt like a frosty gale on a baby's skin deepened savagely, and hissed into her ear with regal authority. "You will feed me now as I wish, Nebula Regina Zirconia. Remember who you are."
"Grumpy tonight, aren't we?" The young woman conceded, exasperated. "I'm sorry but you're not making things any easier for me. Though you are right, grandmamma Vashti, as always."
Reluctantly, she rolled up the sleeve of her left arm, exposing pure, untouched flesh. Then without looking, she ran a long, black fingernail from the base her palm to the joint in her arm. Clenching her fist, Nebula turned to watch as the strong, taut tendons sprung out at the wrist, followed slowly by thin, dark veins.
"Take only enough to allow you to become visible tonight." The suddenly dark eyed young woman added with disgust. "I will know if you take more."
An icy chill spread over her arm until it seemed almost numb. Glancing down, she felt at first two firm hands hot with anticipation hold her arm still and an invisible mouth press against her skin. Then, a sharp, yet sickeningly pleasurable pain shot from that place. Opening her eyes that held back tears of loathing, she saw two small slits appear in her flesh. Then slowly from the punctures began to leak thin, purple blood.
It was the poison that kept her alive. But she no longer wanted to live. Almost every night of her life had involved this ritual. All because of a fatal mistake made a long time ago.
Minutes seemed to pass like hours, cold and painful, until finally the darkness enveloped her mind. As always, though, in the last closing moments of consciousness, she saw the figure of a tall, slender woman, remarkably like herself except with pitch black hair and cruel vivid green eyes to rival her dress. This 'woman' was standing at the end of her bed, flexing her long fingers as if they were new. Cackling evilly, she gave the impression of a very bad boy, with a new and very powerful toy.
********************
"Doing a spot of drinking last night, were we? That was quick!" Professor Flitwick inquired, as the new teacher held her head in her hands over the breakfast table, moaning about a headache. "You should've told us, we'd have given you some company! But don't worry; we have our ways with dealing with hangovers civilly. I'm sure if you ask Professor Snape he will-"
"No it's alright.I'll be OK thanks." Nebula didn't think she could handle another close encounter of the 'Snape' kind so soon. His breath didn't exactly have that 'hint of minty freshness' to it either when he was that close. Next time she might say something that well, wouldn't quite encourage good relations between them. Besides she doubted whether he could give her anything to help her predicament. Normally she would've taken a potion that she procured herself, containing healing and strengthening properties, but it also contained some very special ingredients that at times were hard to come by - vampire fangs over 1000 years old, or a drop of blood from an Animagus; werewolf claws; and most importantly, Diamantez. These things were understandably very hard to come by, and those few black-market peddlers that could get their hands on them, drove a very hard bargain. But they were crucial - they alone could stop the reversal of a curse that was put on her a long time ago. It was a good curse, though, if there was one, which was meant to give her life back socially and perhaps physically. Yet if only, it had worked properly..
~
Life before then was hell. Her thoughts were never secret, and her control over her own body was limited. Every moment she fought an inner battle with herself for control; a losing battle. Interaction with people was rarely an option. Who knows the chaos she might cause, knowingly or not? She was regarded as a schizophrenic - a lunatic even, but much more powerful. Inside her was something that spiritually inhabited her body. Ruling her. Using her for its own ends, eventually.
No, she could not go back to those days. They were too long and painful. This creature, once human, kept Nebula barely alive, but immortal, at the price of living off her life force.
She had never wanted it so, but when she was a child, naive and pure, this torment had been forced upon her by her very mother. Her loving, cherishing mother. Perhaps, she didn't want to corrupt her daughter but just had no choice, as she didn't used to have a choice, Nebula considered in a moment of mercy, long after the event. But it was too late now. What was done, was done. She just had to live with the consequences of other peoples' actions and greedy desires. She had been forced to live with her "grandmother" Vashti, inside her very soul. Commanding. Corrupting. Nebula despised her.
Always moaning about how it was her power that made her descendant so strong, calling her a weakling and a disgrace. What real joy it was to have that wench purged from her soul! But that was all, purged. Nebula wanted her to burn in the consuming fires of Hell that some Muggles believed in. Yet she knew deep in her heart that this could never be. No one could submit Vashti to eternal torment, she thought amusedly. Her 'grandmother' (really her great-great-great something) was never one to brag too much about her abilities, she just let people know what she was really capable of; and if they didn't believe her, she would willingly give them a first hand demonstration. Her arrogance was probably her biggest weakness.
~
A large bell rang nearby on the wall, signalling the start of classes. It also aroused Nebula from her memories with a start. 'I need to get a pensieve' she concluded. The Great Hall that she was only beginning to grow accustomed to was emptying of students and teachers. Nebula rose having eaten little, and walked dreamily down the Hall then through passages and down staircases into the dungeons. She had a good memory and didn't need to be told twice which way it was to her classroom and chambers, luckily.
"Vashti!" she whispered, when no one was around. "Vashti, come I will leave you in my chambers to occupy yourself during my classes. Don't worry I'll visit you once or twice a day." A cold voice replied in her ear irritably,
"As I expected. Why have you told the snakes on the door to deny me entrance or otherwise?"
"Because I can't have you wandering around the school causing havoc wherever you go - and don't give me that look, yes the one I know is on you face right now - I know what you're like." The woman replied, shutting her up. Walking up to her door and ushering the invisible being inside, she murmured to herself shaking her head, "That's one disadvantage of no longer being completely mentally connected to her, you can never be sure of what scheme she's planning next. Nor if she's even standing beside you for that matter, it could just be a cold breeze wafting by. Maybe I am crazy, standing here muttering to myself. Oh dear, I NEED the Diamantez!"
And so she left, striding annoyed along the last corridor to her classroom in the dungeons, with the skirt of the same emerald-green dress that she had worn on her first day at Hogwarts billowing furiously behind her, rivalling even Professor Snape's glorious black satin cloak that rippled gently in the draft along that very same corridor, as the wearer listened intently to her every word. Then, calmly, a pale hand reached up from the darkness, twisted a nearby unlit candle hanging on the wall, and blended smoothly into the black shadows of the hidden passage behind.
*********************
Next: her first class!! And of course HP, RW and HG will be there to witness it. Some more sinister things are revealed too.Harry and Hermione discover things about Miss Zirconia that lead them further into her already murky past.and what is Diamantez? Why is it so hard to get hold of? And what is this potion it's so vital for?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~X~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
