TITLE: Winds of Change
AUTHOR: firefox3211
~i don't own harry potter! the only people i own are my oc's!~
Year of the Snake
"Excuse me; have you seen a toad anywhere?" The compartment door slid open and Gwen cut her eyes across to see a bossy haired girl with large teeth. "Neville's lost one."
Returning to read the book, Gwen shook her head, "No."
There was a moment of silence and the door still hadn't closed. Gwen saw the girl standing there, curiously gleaming in her brown eyes. "Are you going to stand there all day or are you going to leave?"
The girl flushed and shook her head quickly, stuttering out a never mind and Gwen sighed. People didn't leave her alone.
OoO
The sky had been dark and Gwen was getting tired. She hadn't slept at all on the train and she had only eaten breakfast. She pushed the braid back over her shoulder as she walked with the other nervous first years. Gwen didn't feel nervous. Or, at least, she wasn't this nervous.
You've been through worse, she reminds herself and plasters a sweet smile that had adults falling for her, you can deal with a stupid sorting.
The hall is painfully warm and ostentatiously big, filled with chattering children and temperamental teens watching them with judging eyes. She kept smiling because at least, she was good at that.
This was a world she didn't know about but she knew then, that whatever house she went into would be the base for the rest of her life decisions, the path that she would walk on.
They went alphabetically.
"Abbott, Hannah!" went first.
She watched the hat, who had sung a pretty little song that she hadn't paid attention to. Contrary to unpopular belief, she did know about the houses. Any person would know if they opened the book.
(or well, books)
"Bortole, Gwenneth!"
Making sure her expression was still kind, unfazed and open; Gwen sauntered up to the Sorting hat. Placing the ratted cap on her head, Gwen placed her hands on her lap.
Well, aren't you a curious one?
Gwen jolted, fingers intertwining and digging into her palms. What in the ever-loving fu-
Ha! Always the tone of surprise. Alas, we are not here to talk about the surprise I give but about the one you will create. Yes, you will do well. You will struggle but... you have potential.
Gwen felt as though she was in a dream and pinched the palm of her hand.
"SLYTHERIN!"
OoO
Gwen had always been unwelcome.
As a young child, she had been – and still was - extremely smart with a quick memory that allowed her to succeed more than the other children. It had been small things. Perhaps she had began to score higher, garnered more praise from the teachers or perhaps she had messed up somewhere along the line. She tried not to wonder about.
As she grew older, she had grown stranger. She began what she knew now was 'accidental magic' that all kids performed. Gwen had brought items down from shelves in the beginning but after the school bully had pushed her in a fit of anger and she had blasted him back, as in, five feet back into the brick wall she had been made a pariah.
The teachers still loved her though. All adults did.
And now, in Slytherin, she was once again, the outcast.
The girls in her dormitory ignored her and she ignored them. The boys pretended she didn't exist. The older students tolerated her, to an extent, and the prefects allowed Gwen to ask questions. Perhaps it was for reputation; perhaps it was because she was a first year but whatever the reason was Gwen was content to let it lie.
OoO
Gwen rewrote the last sentence of her potions essay for the very last time, hand cramping terribly, and closed the book. She had read it four times already, memorised half of it by heart, and exhausted the material. Opening her transfiguration book, she turned to the page she had left off.
Reading books once was fun, twice was tiring but doable, thrice was mentally exhausting and the fourth was merely a quick skim of the pages. After that, however, when she had memorized the important parts, re-reading became a fun exercise to delve deeper into the possibilities that surrounded her.
Having excelled in all her subjects and becoming one of the top scorers in her year had been a tiring job though but she couldn't allow herself to slack. She wouldn't.
"Excuse me, is this seat taken?"
It was the bossy, bushy haired girl with a red and gold tie. Gwen had no need for company and she didn't need her house coming down on her for befriending a Gryffindor.
"Yes."
OoO
The girls name was Hermione Granger, apparently, and as Gwen heard in the silver and green common room. Pansy Parkinson – one of, if not the, most insufferable girls in her year – was talking about her with Draco Malfoy and his little posse.
"Bortole! Didn't she talk to you?" Parkinson's pitchy voice carried over and the group turned to stare at her, Malfoy's lip curling in distate.
"Unfortunatly."
Parkinson giggled and smiled prettily at her, well, as pretty as she could be. The girl flicked her hair over her shoulder. "At least you know not to hang out with people such as her."
Gwen felt bad. She felt bad for a lot of things and maybe, in another world, she might've befriended the lonely girl but that was not this world and she was not getting caught up in drama for the sake of a friend.
Her only friend wasn't here.
OoO
Sis, Miss Norbis set us more work. She says I should be like you but I don't want to read boring books like you do. Sorry, that was mean! But still. Do you think I could play football instead? I'm good at it, says the coach, maybe one day I'll play for England!
How's school?
I don't mean to ruin the mood of the message but you told me that mama was called Holly and I can't find her in the records. Did you lie, sis?
Anyway, come home for Christmas!
Your bro,
Alex.
OoO
Halloween passed dramatically.
Did she ignore it?
Mmh, Gwen tried.
OoO
Gwen was perceptive, she liked to think. She knew who came into the library and when, what for and who with. Then, Hermione Granger walked in with the Boy-Who-Lived and a Weasley at her back and began combing the shelves for... something.
She didn't ask and this wasn't the case were she held no interest because no, she was. She tried to eavesdrop but that didn't get more than a 'how long do we have to search for?'
OoO
Gwen wrote down the formula for the Forgetfulness Potion again, changing what she thought might help. She had been trying to fix the problem of it turning green for several days now and didn't fancy retuning the entire thing. Of course, she could go the written route, but things got complicated and more than they needed to be.
Running the end of the quill over her bottom lip, she scribbled out her last annotation and replaced it with another.
Mentally, she ran through the steps and declared it ready to run. Now, if only she could find a place to-
She was suddenly crowded by three first years. Hermione Granger slammed at book down, one she had been carrying with her all day, and smiled politely, "We have a question-"
"She's a Slytherin! You didn't tell us that, Hermione!" Weasley glared fiercely down at her. Gwen ignored him.
"Be quiet, Ron." Hermione turned to her. "Do you know anyone by the name, Nicholas Flamel?"
Gwen mulled the name over in her find, rembering a book she had read that had mentioned the name. She stood up from her chair and walked over to the third closest bookshelf. She pulled out a green book and put it back, and then a blue-green one that look close to the one she was looking for before finally tugging out a dark, faded green-grey book and handing it over.
"It should be in here." She said quietly before sliding back into her seat at the table, "Is that all?"
Granger nodded quickly and thanked her profusely.
OoO
To my brother,
Miss Norbis is a dingbat; don't let anyone tell you otherwise. She spent three years comparing my looks to Jenna Forsby. She hates everyone, I think, and it's really best not to worry about her. It's something against Mum. I don't know what but she mentioned me being exactly like her in my ways.
School is alright. It's interesting though. I excel here as I did back home which is nice but sharing rooms is kind of awkward at times. If you're going to ask, no I don't have any friends. My Housemates pretend I don't exist which is nice since they can be really vicious sometimes. I have to watch my step but maybe next year I'll try.
I wasn't lying about Mum. I forgot you didn't know about your dad and Mum. When they married Mum took his last name. His last name was Orin. Mum demanded you take her old name and your dad wouldn't let me change my own. So try looking for Holly Orin, or if all else fails, search for Nancy Jared.
I'll tell you who she is over Christmas, but whatever you do, don't visit her. I'm being serious. She hates both of us – and mum.
Rent out a movie for when I come home and I'll buy snacks on the way back!
Gwen
OoO
Gwen's Christmas was just like any others, except now she had a new pair of gloves that her brother had bought her. She had quietly explained, the day before she left, about Nancy Jared and the scandal that ruined a family.
Her brother had been furious, of course, but Gwen calmed him down. She felt anxious he would do something impeccably rash and mess something up. Thank Merlin he wasn't an adult yet.
After Christmas, Gwen devoted whatever time she had left to finding a suitable room to brew in. This led her to this;
Gwen spent most of her time in either the library, common room, or the dorms but at the minute she was searching the dungeons.
She ran her hand over the cold wall, pressing slightly on each new stone as she walked in an odd pattern. She counted two-hundred and twenty three presses when suddenly, the wall moved. She walked in. Gwen sneezed.
The room was dusty and full of cobwebs. The bitterly cold air chilled her to the bones and was a good bit colder than outside. Inside the room, however, was a large work desk with room for a cauldron. It wasn't spacious, not at all, but quite cosy.
Huffing in frustration, she made her way through the room and lit a halfway done candle. Along the walls were inscriptions in a foreign language and a large, oaken bookshelf that seemed to last through the years. In fact, it seemed as if it was frozen in time and left alone.
Somebody had wanted it gone, perhaps, but it wasn't and she had found it.
OoO
Uncle Kevin,
I haven't written you in ages.
You know why.
Don't tell Nancy and send me the photo album of mum, married or not. Alex is getting curious and I'll be telling him the truth soon.
I only hope he accepts it.
Gwenneth Bortole.
OoO
Gwen cleaned out the room and immediately moved all her work down there. She filled up the bookshelves with her dismal collection of books and placed a cauldron that she had bought specially – using up her self-set-up allowance – and got to work.
The only way to make sure the potions worked was to test them and after she brewed the forgetfulness potion, which seemed the right shade and consistency but had a wonky smell to it, she sat down with the other first years at breakfast.
"Bortole, finally decided to grace us with your presence?" Malfoy drawled and his two goons sniggered.
The vial, which was slipped up her sleeve, emptied itself into his drink.
Magic!
Gwen sat down, at the edge of the first years beside Blaise Zabini, and made herself a plate. She often ate quickly and left early. The other first years –well, the more talkative ones anyway – gossiped cheerfully about who did what.
"So, do you spend time with Muggleborns and blood-traitors, Bortole?" Parkinson asked snidely, drinking from her goblet.
Gwen eyed her silently for a moment, "I don't spend time with any of them. They annoy me."
"Why? Aren't you one yourself?"
"I don't know. Both of my parents are dead." Gwen said sharply. "And I don't have any other relatives."
That seemed to settle the question. If anything, the fact that a Muggleborn was in their house was atrocious and impossible but a half-blood, well, they could accept that. It meant Slytherin was still a symbol of purity in the Wizarding World and not tainted.
The conversation continued and Malfoy was going on a tangent again, "I don't think those with impure blood should be here" (Tracey Davis turned a shade of white that Gwen didn't know existed)"And that-"
He cut himself off and looked confused. "What was I talking about?"
Theodore Nott didn't cast his eyes up from his plate as he replied, "How those with impure blood shouldn't be allowed in Hogwarts."
Malfoy nodded and continued only to stop again. And then again and again until it was time for class.
Success.
OoO
Gwenneth,
I have sent you a copy of the album. I have removed those that are strictly of me and Nancy. I wish you well in your future endeavours, niece.
My sincerest apologies,
Kevin.
OoO
Gwen stayed behind after charms.
Plastering on a sweet smile and a charming facade, Gwen approached Professor Flitwick shyly. The Professor hadn't realised she was there.
"Excuse me Professor?" Gwen said and Flitwick turned around and smiled back at her, "I was just wondering if there were any books you could recommend that are a bit more advanced? I've already learnt the entire charms book for this year by heart."
Flitwick chuckled joyfully, "Yes, Miss Bortole, you do posess an aptitude for charms. I'm very impressed with your dedication. You should've been in my own house!"
Gwen pretended to laugh along. Flitwick continued. "There is the next year's book but I do recommend Charms Compendium for all my years. I would not, however, go too far in. You are still young despite your skill."
"Of course, Professor Flitwick. I would never."Gwen brushed the falling brown curls out of her face, "Thank you, Professor."
OoO
Sis,
You don't look like mum at all! She's very blonde and light eyed. I wondered who I took after. Well, I have dads eyes, don't I?
Anyway, where did you get this? I was wondering because you only ever had that one picture of the cat – Mouses? Muses? I can't remember – after everything was lost in the fire. There aren't any pictures of me and you or even just you but there is this strange man in Mums wedding photo.
Who is he? Is he family? Is he a friend? Was he in the fire too?
I have so many questions, sis. Please answer them. I'm getting sick of the 'you'll be told when you're older'. I'm much more mature for an eight-year old. Can you at least tell me Dad's full name?
Alex.
OoO
Gwen glared at the page with a fury.
OoO
Bro,
His name was Leo Orin.
I'll tell you all of it when you're eleven. Trust me on this. I wasn't told until just this year, you know that. There are only five people who know the truth about this. It's dangerous, for both of us.
Listen, Alex, that man...
He's bad. He pretends he's good but he left us. Don't trust him, alright?
Sis.
OoO
"Bortole."
The upper years, mainly third and a few fourth, approached her. Gwen plastered a charming smile on her face and placed back a book on the shelf.
"Yes?" Gwen asked, clasping her hands behind her back.
"We've heard you're good at charms. Didn't you get an advanced book on the subject?" asked a light haired girl smoothly and she shrugged a shoulder, "Slytherin house is always looking for potential."
As if, she had only been an outsider. She was. She didn't know why she was denying it.
"I like to think I'm proficient at it." Gwen said.
A few of the group nodded, pleased and the girl held out a hand, "Call me Melaia. Melaia Rowle, Gwen."
She eyed the hand, the offer. The ability to move up the ranks and made her decision.
She shook.
OoO
Bro,
Eugh, the Gryffindors won.
Dammit all. Dammit it all to hell! I worked hard for those points and those- those-
Nevermind.
Well, I'll be coming home soon. I did promise to tell you more.
I'll tell you about our extended family, our Aunt Nancy and Uncle Kevin. Don't go looking either.
Please?
Sis
OoO
thanks for reading! I haven't actually written in ages. Please review and tell me if there's anything i've done wrong or could improve on. There is no definite date for the next chapter! But y2 is being worked on atm.
Posted on Ao3 under the name wufflles