Chapter 4
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"Alura! That's not fair!" A young girl in pigtails stomped her little foot.
"It is!" I yelled back, my voice sounding much younger that it should be.
"I can jump more high than you and that's that!"
The young pigtailed girl screamed out as she pushed me hard.
I stumbled back, almost tripping over my feet.
My face felt hot.
"That wasn't nice!" I bellowed back and she laughed, shoving me again, this time to the ground.
The little girl laughed and pointed with her group of friends as I panted and stood up.
Their faces one by one turned from joy to horror as I kept going, my height now doubling theirs and the heat from my face now everywhere in my body.
The girls screamed and I opened my mouth to shout, but a bright light and the smell of smoke blinded me and I closed my eyes as I screamed in confusion as a creature roared in place of the scream I was expecting...
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I woke up in a deep sweat and panted as the screams slowly left my head. I looked around and grabbed my covers tightly till my heart slowed down.
My panting turned to soft sobs and I bit my pillow to keep them hushed, remembering I was not really alone.
Once my shaking calmed down I reached out for my pocket watch on my bedside table.
"Lumos..." I whispered to keep the light small.
4:38 am
I waved my wand to turn off the light and put the watch back and laid down in the silence.
I began to mouth a little nursery rhyme to move my thoughts away from the nightmare, but it didn't help me fall back asleep.
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"You look awful..." Pansy frowned in concern as she sipped her tea, pushing mine towards me.
"Did you sleep at all?"
I shook my head.
"I slept... just not much..." I brought the cup to my lips as Draco entered the Hall.
Hiding behind my cup, I took a slow sip as he sat down a small distance away, his cheek looking pale once more.
"That's funny..." I mumbled after swallowing. Did I somehow put him in his place? He did say I would regret it- was he taking time away to plot something horrible?
My eyes rolled a little at the thought of being paranoid all day waiting for his silly attempt at revenge for a quick slap.
The sound of excitement drew my attention to the other tables as I noticed owls flying in with letters and parcels.
"Post day!" Pansy half sang, much too awake for my sleep deprived self right now...
As I looked at my half drunk tea, a small brown owl popped its head into view and I smiled.
"Bonjour Feroce..." I whispered as it lifted his head to push a letter towards me.
"Merci, avoir un bon vol." I wished him a good flight as he took a torn crust from my left over toast and flew off.
"He was so cute and small!" Pansy cried before leaning over my shoulder.
"Who's it from?"
I opened it freely, knowing it would all be in French as the owl was my fathers.
"Such pretty handwriting..." Pansy uttered, trying to pronounce some of the words.
After a quick scan I knew it was alright for her to nose and took my time re-reading it.
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Mon sweetest Alura,
Your mother and I have settled in and hope you have too.
Dumbledore has assured us he will keep an eye on you from afar and an eye on the meddling ministry.
That man must have the worst case of lazy eye I've ever seen!
No need to write back straight away, we know you'll be busy, but we do miss Flamber already! Oh and you of course!
All my love, mon petite cherie,
Mere et Pere
xxx
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I smiled softly and let Pansy finish trying to understand the words before folding the letter away.
"Who was it from?" She asked as she stood up to get ready to go to class.
"Mostly my father but my mother signed too. They're just letting me know they're settled and miss Flamber."
"The owl? Not you?" She giggled and I shrugged.
"He was the son they got to choose!" I said dramatically with a laugh.
We walked through an open corridor in a new part of the castle I hadn't been to yet that opened to an open air quad.
A big smile broke out on my face as the sky finally looked calm.
"Flamber will be very happy to leave the dorm room in this beautiful weather." Pansy said as she joined me over at one of the open arches and looked up.
"He will indeed. It's nice to see the sky blue again. Soon winter will give us less days like this." I stretched my hand into a sunbeam and sighed at the warmth of it.
Pansy gave me a puzzled look and joined me with a giggle.
"You're so strange."
"I just appreciate the little things!" I said in a mock defensive tone.
A body pushed past me roughly and I jerked forward with a "hey!"
I was expecting to see Malfoy but a ginger boy turned to give me a scowl.
He stood beside Harry as a girl with bushy hair quietly apologised as she slipped between me and Pansy to join them.
"That wasn't very nice for a Griffendor!" Pansy sneered, holding my arm protectively.
The ginger glared at me.
"My sister saves you from a Slytherin and you go and join their house." He said in disgust.
My eyes widened.
"You're Ginnys brother? Please tell her I don't want any bad blood between u-" the boy cut me off with a "piss off" and walked away.
"Fuck you Weasly!" Pansy growled after them as I stood in shock and sadness.
"He doesn't even know me... why is he so mad at me?" I held back a lip tremble as Pansy sighed, pointing at my snake emblem on my robe.
"Take pride in this. To be a Slytherin is to face hatred but to know you're above it. Know that you're respected no matter what they say and to force respect to be shown when other defy you."
She puffed her chest and nodded her head at the corridor we were walking down.
"Let's go."
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Herbology and Runes passed by slowly as I was itching to take Flamber out.
I even wrote a small reply for him to take to father to really stretch his wings and enjoy the weather while bored out of my mind in runes.
I told Pansy I'd find her after lunch as I raced up to pick up a happy Flamber.
He nuzzled my face as I popped him on my shoulder and took him to the Quad from before, popping the letter in his beak and giving him some smooches on the top of his head before letting him fly off.
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Friday soon dawned and the week had gone by quickly.
Draco still avoided me and for that I was guilty but thankful.
Flamber hasn't come back yet and I wasn't too worried, we had moved home so he may have gotten a little lost on the way.
Fridays were an odd one for the fourth years with a whole afternoon set on Defence against the Dark Arts, a subject only taught on Fridays for a 3 hour block at a time.
"It's manic how many times the position gets replaced... for once we have the same teacher twice... his replacement is rumoured though..." Pansy rolled her eyes as I asked what the teacher was like.
"They call him Mad-Eye." She shivered.
"What a horrible name."
We walked into the large room that almost had the feel of a dance studio if it wasn't for the desks and cupboards and no mirrors bar one on the far side of the room on a particularly large wardrobe. It wiggled a bit in a disturbing manner but Pansy assured me it always did that and dragged me to a seat at the back as the class filled.
Whispers began to fill the air as everyone talked about what they had heard about how Mad Eye had gotten the job two years in a row.
Some said he was a retired dark Wizard catcher, some said he boiled his prisoners to eat them and others said he was here because the ministry couldn't deal with him anymore and Dumbledore took pity.
I winced at how close to home that last rumour felt and almost jumped out of my seat as the famous Mad Eye slammed the door shut behind him.
"Fear! That's what we will be tackling today!" He barked, scratching the word on a chalkboard roughly.
"You all have something you deeply fear! And today you will be face to face with it! Like it or not! Any questions?!" He barked out again and the whole class was frozen in silence.
"GOOD!" He slammed his hand down on his desk and pushed it across the room.
"No need to write anything, just a small spell is what you'll be practising for the next hour before the real fun starts!"
We were instructed take a white ball and cast "ridikulas" on it to make it bright and colourful.
It took a while before Pansy and I could make it work.
I spotted Draco out of the corner of my eye laughing with Blaise as they made the ball turn blue and red with relative ease.
I looked away before he could have the chance to catch me and sighed.
Why did I feel so bad? I was a good enough sport when he scratched up my chin... why did he get to take the high ground over this?
It infuriated me!
"Alura!" Pansy shouted next to me as I looked up and saw Mad Eye in front of me.
I gulped with wide eyes as he looked at the ball, picking up the rainbow polka-dotted sphere.
"Good enough. Get in the line." He said gruffly and swung his hand over to the side of the room where students had lined up.
"Come on..." Pansy whispered as she stood in front of me in the line.
I felt my body freeze up as I could hear Draco chatting with Blaise right behind me.
I chose to pretend he wasn't there as Mad Eye explained that a Boggart was in the wardrobe that rocked around and to use our new spell to disarm it with a humorous shape.
The class relaxed a lot giggling from the odd transformations of the Boggart.
The giggles turned to excited whispers each time a new person stepped in front of the Boggart and as it reached Pansys turn, her fear turned into a large scorpion, snapping at her and swinging its tail around to stab her.
She cast her spell and the scorpion suddenly wore giant woollen mittens on its pincers and tail, trying miserably to take them off.
The class laughed loudly as Pansy turned to me with a grin and pushed me forward before going to stand with the ones who had faced the Boggart already.
I watched anxiously as the Boggart twisted and warped until it turned into... me.
I gulped in fear as my copy stood there, eyes closed and waiting.
The confused whispers of the class made it lift its head and slowly open its eyes to reveal deep yellow irises and thin black slit like pupils.
I swallowed back a fearful sob as smoke blew from my copy's nose and proceeded to grotesquely stretch their form into that of a lime green juvenile Wyvern that might be considered graceful if it wasn't snarling and sucking in a deep breath.
It looked to the people behind me and settled it's gaze on Draco who looked up at it in horror.
A gas like rumble in its throat signalled oncoming fire that I held back my tears to scream "RIDIKULAS!" at.
Bubbles poured from its mouth instead of flame and it choked them out in confusion.
Tears streamed freely down my cheeks as I locked eyes with Draco then the rest of the class who were all silent as the dragon bogart retreated to its wardrobe under Mad-Eyes command.
I looked around at everyone before shaking my head.
"I-I'm sorry."
I turned and ran as fast as I could, wiping the tears away that blinded my vision, making me feel like I was underwater.
I ran until I had to hold myself up against a wall to catch my breath.
I openly sobbed in the empty hallway, embarrassed and scared.
There was a large windowsill just up the stairs that I could see and I made my way shakily towards it, bringing my knees up and trying to calm my thoughts and breathing.
"They know... they know..." I punched the wall and sobbed harder as my hand now hurt. I cradled it in my chest and rocked until the pain went away.
I could hear foot steps approaching and pushed myself further into the nook of the window as I tried to silence my crying.
I wiped my eyes quickly and tried to control my breath.
The foot steps started to come up the stairs and I prayed they would just go by without noticing me... but they stopped right beside me.
"What the hell was that?" My eyes closed tightly as I balled my fists. Of course it was him...
Of course now Draco would have his revenge. His fun.
"Not now Malfoy." I tried to sound tough but my voice wavered with the echo of a sob.
He didn't move or say anything so I glared up at him.
"Go away!" I yelled. He blinked down at me, unimpressed and un-phased.
With a groan from me, he sat himself down, leaning against the opposite wall of the nook we now shared.
"Leave me alone..." I whined pitifully as I pulled my knees up, holding my skirt with my hands under my thighs.
"Or what? You'll turn into a dragon and eat me?" He chuckled somewhat softly and reached forward to wipe away a tear.
I flinched away from him, not wanting to play his game right now.
He went quiet for a while.
"Can you actually do that? Is that seriously a thing you can do? Don't lie to me." His voice was soft and straight, no hint of a teasing tone, yet I still didn't know what to say.
Instead I looked out the window and gave a small hesitant nod.
"Can you do it at will?" Again I slowly gave a nod.
"Can you do it now?" He said with a hint of a smirk and I looked at him in horror.
"Never again." I held back a shuddery breath in the aftermath of my sobbing.
"You don't know what I've been through." I said with a bit more of a snarl to my words.
"Does it hurt?" He asked as he sat forward curiously.
"Yes it fucking hurts! I transformed when I was seven years old and killed a child! What part of that wouldn't hurt your soul?" I snapped, anger replacing my fear and distrust.
He blinked and frowned, looking out the window.
"I meant when you transform, does it physically hurt..." he said coldly.
"Oh..."
I curled up again, ashamed of myself.
A long time passed in silence before I opened my mouth.
"It feels...good. Kind of like the first stretch in the morning but times a hundred..." he turned his gaze to me as I looked at my knees.
"It's a need... the thought of it makes me itch. Like I'm wearing a scratchy sweater I can't take off until I transform... and that's a horrible feeling to ignore... till I remember what I did."
The silence continued for another minute and this time Draco broke it.
"You said you were seven... that hardly makes you responsible for something you didn't mean to do. Especially murder..."
He must have seen my cringe as he stopped talking and sighed.
"Why did you follow me?" I said after a pause, hesitantly looking up at him.
He met my eyes and seemed to think before opening his mouth.
"Why did your boggart come after me?"
I took in a breath and lent against the wall, letting my legs down to cross them and rest my hands in my lap.
"I've been thinking about you- thinking about when I slapped you... and I guess I was worried my rage could do more than leave you with a red cheek..." he looked at me with a raised brow.
"You don't know who you're pushing, Draco. What I have to worry about keeping my cool for." He looked out the window and nodded.
I groaned softly as I looked over my shoulder.
"I'm gonna be in so much trouble for running off mid class..."
Draco chuckled.
"We both are."
I joined him for a moment before closing my eyes.
"Beauxbattons kicked me out when they found out... Dumbledore knows but... now that a bunch of students know..."
"Hey." Draco reached out to hold my wrist in an attempt to ground me to the current moment.
"No one knows anything. I wouldn't have guessed what all that meant. You don't have to tell another soul. And neither will I."
I looked to him with a soft thankful smile.
"If..." my smile dropped and I narrowed my eyes.
Was he really gonna blackmail me now? After all that?!
"If I can see you transform."
I angrily shook him off of my wrist and stood up to glare at him.
"What part of 'I can't, I killed someone' do you not understand?!" I growled and he stood up too, putting his hands on my shoulders.
"Hey, I'm kidding." He offered a small unsure smile as I sighed and trembled with another oncoming crying fit.
I let my head drop as I held it off.
"Draco..."
"Mm?"
"Please don't ever bring this up again... ever."
His hands slipped from my shoulders as we just stood there facing each other, my eyes on the floor, not daring to see what his expression was.
"Alura..." he began but stopped. Instead he shoved his hands in his pockets and began to walk away.
I backed into the wall and slowly slid down it to hug my knees again.
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Everything felt so uncertain yet final...
I wanted the wall to absorb me. Take me away. Hide me forever...
Anything but what I actually did- walk back to the common room with my tail between my legs.
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A/N: I really hope the dragon thing didn't come as too much of an unnatural twist XD this is kinda a rewrite of a fanfic I wrote back in 2013.
Yes I know dragons can't be animagus' but it's my story XD I'll have what I want! and... shes not an animagus anyway ;3
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