Chapter 5 :
Christine gave a sigh of relief when Saturday came. No classes, no Romeo and Juliet, and a trip to Hogsmead. Adding to Christine's relief and happiness (which she did not express on her expressionless face –howls of amazement-), it had begun snowing. Opening her trunk, she took out a coin bag and added 20 Gold Galleons to it, retrieving the money from a compartment only opened with her wand.
She wore a thick pair of jeans, a thermal, a long sleeved sky blue coloured shirt with the words "Anti-Bimbo, a warning to Skanks", and a nice white Adidas jacket her muggle friend had bought her before she came to Hogwarts. Although she wore plain simple clothes, she stood out from the rest of the girls, namely those who wore designer tags. But she didn't care, she had loads of designers tags at the bottom of her trunk. She just didn't flaunt her wealth, knowing that her father could afford anything she wanted. But she was that kind of girl who wasn't spoilt or wanted anything an ordinary girl like her wanted at that age.
Her beauty was enhanced even further with her complexion standing out from something other than black (her Hogwarts robe), making boys stare and girls scowl. She didn't care, she ignored them. She carried a sketch book with her and a few old fashioned sketching pencils, wanting to sketch the view of Hogsmead (she had a flare for art and music).
Walking by herself to Hogsmead and enjoying the cold along the way, upon arriving she entered the Three Broomsticks, wanting to get a butterbeer. To her annoyance, it was packed with Hogwarts students, so she headed off to the Hogshead where she found a place to sit, BUT the old bar man was giving her dirty looks. Feeling uncomfortable, she gingerly got up and decided to head to her last option. The Wild Hippogriff.
The sign written across the battered door plainly sated that no one under 17 was allowed to enter. She didn't mind. She didn't care. She didn't give a damn. She was often mistaken for a maiden of 20. She was seriously thirsty and needed WARMTH now that she was freezing in the cold. She took a deep breath and pushed to grimy door open. The smell of sweat, beer, and smoke clouded her vision and cause her to retch in disgust.
She peeled back her gloves and clamped a hand over her nose and mouth, staggering towards the counter, she said "Excuse me mister, one Butterbeer please," to the barman who was dressed in filthy clothes and had yellow teeth.
He turned around, leaning his weight on the counter, and stared into her eyes with a doubtful expression on her face. Putting on the best bad girl expression on her face to make her look more mature, she snarled "Get a move on Buddy or you will be feeling your face under my Shoooooo---- I mean….BOOT….!"
Then he laughed, talking to the men in cloaks playing a game of pool, "Hey Jimmy! For a mo' here I thought this lassy was one of them stud'nts from Hogwarts!"
Then more men laughed and the guy, supposedly "Jimmy" who had an unshaven face and a look of menace, walked up to her and said, "Hey pretty girl, think your so tough? Let's play a game of pool then, each ball we get in you drink a small glass of Firewhisky,"
Suddenly she felt frightened. These people meant business. Putting on her best front, she said, "I just wanted a Butterbeer mister,"
"Which means you're still a student! Ain't she boys?"
Her notorious anger took hold. Grabbing her butterbeer from the counter, she kicked a chair and downed her butterbear in a gulp, and shouted"BRING IT ON!". If these people wanted to have their ass kicked so badly, then so be it. She wanted it to be over quickly so she could sketch.
She had managed to get in most of those marble shaped balls, making her opponent "Mr Jimmy" drink many cups of Firewhisky. But she too had her fair share of the foul drink. She drank a total of three cups, causing her vision to fog up and make her feel giddy, leaning her head on the wall moaning. Then Cedric burst in in the nick of time when she was about to down her next cup.
"You boy! Your not allowed in here!" the barman shouted.
"NEITHER IS SHE! SHE'S FOURTEEN!" he yelled, rushing forward to support Christine who was feeling too sick to tell Cedric to shove off.
Sweeping her off her feet, he carried her out of the bar and seated her on a bench. She put a hand to her forehead, moaning at the pain.
He paced infront of her, finally bursting out, " WHAT WERE YOU THINKING! YOUR ONLY FOURTEEN! WHY WERE YOU IN THAT HOVEL?"
"I JUST WANTED TO –hic- HAVE A DRINK, THE THREE –hic- BROOMSTICKS WAS TOO CROWDED AND THE HOGS-hic- HEAD BAR MAN WAS A DIRTY OLD FELLOW AND-"
"WHAT ABOUT THOSE MEN IN THE BAR! YOU DON'T THINK THEY ARE DIRTY!"
Then Christine started to hallucinate…
"Mum?"
"Huh?"
Ignoring him, she stood up, staggering to the spot where she saw her mother, standing by the lamp, smiling and waving, laughing ever so joyfully as Christine remembered, then her mother turned around, waving at Christine one last time, and walked into the forest…"
"MUM! NO… DON'T LEAVE! YOU CAN'T LEAVE ME AGAIN!"
"Huh?" said Cedric, turning to where Christine was staggering to.
"MOTHER….NO….!" Christine shouted, and breaking into a shaky sprint.
But before she could get far Cedric grabbed her around her waist, restraining her. Tears dribbled down her rosy face, trying hard to force Cedric off her. Her "mother" was walking into the forest, with the air that she would never be seen again. Christine's hand was outstretched to where she last saw her mother. She gave up struggling and fell back into Cedric's arms. Biting her lip to stop herself from sobbing. To her foggy surprise, it actually worked. And then it happened again.
In place of Cedric's face, she saw her childhood sweetheart staring at her. The bloody idiot who dumped her before she came to Hogwarts for another girl.
" Ni zhe ge wan ba dan…." She started coldy, shoving Cedric off, " Ni zen me ke yi zhe yang dui wo!"
"Christine…" Cedric said exasperatedly, trying to walk towards her."
While sobbing, she hurled more insults at him, screaming in Chinese. Knowing that she was hallucinating again, using his wand, he quickly melted a puddle of snow and splashed it on her face. She sputtered and coughed, wiping her face with her hands, and to Cedric's relief, she looked up with no longer a glazed look. But his relief came as quickly as it went, as Chistine's vision went black. She had the impression she was falling into deep… dark… pit…
-boring border please ignore-
She woke up that night, surprised to see a worried Professor Mcgonagoll and her father standing over her, with worried and angry expressions plastered over their faces. Her head felt extremely painful as pain seared through her skull and into her brain. Her tongue felt extremely thick and fuzzy, tasting like lousy liqourice.
"What were you thinking Christine?"
"Those men, they forced me, I didn't want any trouble caused,"
"By downing Firewhisky! You think that would help! You wouldn't know what they would do when you are drunk! Your mother taught you better than that!" her father exclaimed, exasperated.
"That's right! MOTHER, you were never at home, you NEVER cared about the family, always about work at the ministry, that's all you ever CARED about!" she said, shutting her father up.
Suddenly Christine felt a warm liquid rising in her throat. She got out of bed quickly, staggering, with a hand clamped over her mouth. She got to the basin and threw everything up. Madam Pomfrey hurried forward as she rinsed her mouth, giving her a cup of tea saying that it would help. To her surprise, the tea actually cleared her vision and mind, allowing her to notice the surroundings. That was when she realized she was given three detentions at separate timings and a hundred points off Gryffindor.
Her father left the room with a solemn and offended look on his face, with Professor Mcgonagoll behind. Looking away, Madam Pomfrey told her that she could go back to school in the morning. Christine asked her if she knew how Cedric knew in turn, that she was in the bar.
"Well, I overheard him telling Professor Mcgonagoll that some of your friends saw you entering the pub, they were worried for you and asked him to check if it they were mistaken. You really shouldn't do such a foolish thing the next time Miss Lin," she replied in a crisp voice.
Hey people. This chapter is much more interesting than the RnJ chapters. Well, I was writing and I just found inspiration, Strage ehh? Well I gotta eat my dinner now. 2 chapters in a day! Wow! Yay-ness. Okay remember to review! I'll start on the sixth tommorow.