Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter a very hot teenage Severus Snape would be hanging out with me right now. Unfortunately there isn't, which means that Harry Potter belongs to JKR. Lucky bitch.

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One. Miss Tristanis Thorn Brandon.

All the teachers at Hogwarts sat in the staff room, waiting for Albus to show up with the new teacher, seeing as how Albus had added a physical fitness class and a physical defense class to the register. No one had the slightest clue who the person was, only that they were from another country. The door to the staff lounge pushed open and the old Headmaster walked in, closely followed by a woman in her early thirties. She had long, red, straight hair and onyx black eyes. They stood out from her pale skin.

"Ahh, it's too good to see you all again. I would like to introduce our new charms teacher, Tristanis Brandon. She's from America." She leveled her gaze with theirs, eyes closed off like a door.

"From America?" Severus Snape sneered, glancing at her as is she were no more than dirt.

"Yes. The States. You know, it is said that we're not as civilized as Brits, but if your character determined anything, I should thing those views would switch." She said emotionlessly. The Potions master was taken aback. This woman had just insulted him. "America is my home, always has been. If you want to insult it, then I will kick your sorry ass into the next week. In case you haven't noticed, my temper isn't the greatest. So do me a damn favor and shut. Your. Trap."

Everyone was dumbfounded. Turning apologetically to the rest of the staff, she did a little half bow. "Sorry about ditching, but I have things that need taking care of. Nice to finally see some faces." And with that, the woman swept from the room.

"Well, she's a rather…um…interesting…case." Minerva said, a hind of a smile gracing the older face. Sprout giggled.

"A bit temperamental though." Lupin, the Defense teacher, remarked. "I like her."

"I don't." Severus said coldly glaring at all the others in the room. Albus raised an eyebrow.

"And why, Severus, do you deem her unacceptable?" The headmaster asked amusedly. The Potions master growled.

"She has a completely despicable vocabulary, not to mention her wardrobe screams lack of style. No social skills what so ever."

"You know, if you started swearing, you could be referring to yourself Severus." Poppy said, grinning slightly. "I think you actually have a bit in common."

Minerva snorted into her tea cup. Pomphrey had a point.

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Opening Feast

Tristanis slouched in her seat, scanning the gaggle of students with curiosity. It was obvious this year was going to interest her greatly. Maybe she could even find someone smart enough to find…no. There was no cure. Never had been never would be. The thought almost brought tears to her eyes. Almost. It took years of practice to learn to shield all of her emotions. And even now, anger was still beyond her reach.

She had already finished her food, and was not allowed to leave until the students on this night. So, she pulled out the one thing that kept her sane. Her drawing notebook. Flipping through until she found a clean page, Tristanis looked around the Hall for something to draw. Her eyes finally trained on three students closest to the Teacher's table. Biting her lip, Trista started drawing the scene.

"Professor Brandon? Can I talk to you?" Tristanis's head shot up to meet the eyes of Professor Dumledore. He looked as happy as ever. Nodding Trista rose from her seat and followed him from the Great Hall. They went up to his office.

"What's up D?" She asked distractedly. He chuckled.

"I wanted to ask you a few questions about your-"

"Past." She interrupted, self-hatred evident in her voice. "Sure. But I don't have everything back yet."

"I know Miss Brandon. All I want to know is this, why did you agree to come? And how did it happen? You knew you wouldn't be welcome here by most of the students. And as you told Severus, the place is your home."

"I lied." She whispered, tears falling from her black eyes. "I have nothing there. I used to think that people would accept me…after…but they didn't. I was just a child Albus, and they tried to kill me after it happened. I was only 13 fucking years old. It wasn't my fault that I tried to protect my best friend. But they killed her anyway."

Tristanis felt the Headmaster wrap arms around her shoulders. After so long, the woman allowed her emotions to shine through as she sobbed for the first time in 13 years. It would only be later that Albus would realize how much his comforting embrace had meant to her.

When she stumbled into her room sometime later, she threw the black fire symbol on the night table. She didn't care anymore. There would be no more outbursts of emotion.

"My name is Tristanis Thorn Brandon. And I don't deserve to live." She whispered into the air.

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Uh, this will be a story, but I will say right now that I won't be updating regularly. Please Review, I love them so much!