DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter. Everything except for my ideas and my character belong to J.K. Rowling and I proudly give that to her!
So, I came up with this idea while I was watching Meet The Robinsons (I know, how lame?). I hope you like it. Yes it is AU but I love it all the same!
XoXo
I looked up with my face stained with dried tears. I could hear people shuffling around in their compartments, but otherwise it was quiet. James' head was peeked out from the compartment they were sharing. He looked worried, something I had only seen on Mistress Caroline's face. I didn't know what to do until he came and sat down next to me. He pushed me with his shoulder and looked at me with that sweet face of his. "What's up?" he asked, smiling.
"Nothing," I replied sulkily.
"Really? You left the compartment pretty quickly and you're sitting out here with tear tracks written on your face. I know when a girl is upset; I've seen it plenty of times before." I laughed at that. He smiled even wider and gave me a hopeful look. "So are you gonna tell me what's wrong or not?"
"Not now," I smiled, ducking my head when his face darkened. He was upset, I hated when people were upset with me unless they deserved it. James Potter was one person that definitely did not deserve it.
"Why not? Does the mysterious Acacia Lestrange have another secret behind her life?" he smiled. I looked back at him and bit my lip, wanting to tell him the secrets that haunted me, but I knew that I couldn't if I wanted to stay friends with him. "I'll take that as a yes. You know what? I'm fine if you don't want to tell me what's wrong, but if you're gonna pretend that everything's okay, I can't be friends with you!"
"Why not?" I screeched at him. He made no sense!
"Because you're lying! All my life I've been surrounded by people who have lied, whether it was for a good purpose or not, they lied and I can't trust them anymore. I'm sick of the liars and I thought you were different, but I guess not!"
"You think you've lived with liars?!" I yelled. "You don't know the half of it! Try living without knowing who your parents are! Try wondering why you weren't good enough for them to keep! Wondering what you did wrong when you were an infant! Try that on for size and then you come and talk to me, James!" He looked at me with hardness in his eyes that I had only known on my own face.
"Fine. But let me know when you're ready to talk and then we can be friends again!"
I could see him shaking his head as I watched his retreating figure. I started to cry again and someone pulled me into their compartment, violently. I looked up and saw a girl standing over me with dark emerald eyes and curly, auburn hair. She had a smirk on her mouth and I could barely suppress my laughter at the sight of her. "I'm Aspen Green. Why are you crying?"
"What are some reasons that you would be crying?!"
"Well, someone could be acting like a complete ass to me, someone could be hurting me, and someone could have lied to me. Are any of these making you cry?" she asked me sweetly. I shook my head, was it stupid, the reason I was crying?
"Let's just say that I have secrets and no one will understand me."
"Why not? Are you a mystery?"
"All right. I have never liked it when people ask me stupid and rapid fire questions, like you just did. And why do you think you know me well enough to ask me these stupid questions?!"
"I never said that I knew you enough to ask you stupid questions…. Who are you?" I was taken back by the way she asked me this.
"Acacia Grace Lestrange." I smiled when her eyes widened in fear and surprise. "Yeah. I know. I'm Bellatrix Lestrange's daughter. Be afraid, be very afraid."
She laughed at this and I was kind of surprised. This was at least one person that wasn't afraid of me. Albeit, she was a little annoying, but so was everyone else. I looked behind me and saw that James was there with a little smile on his face. I looked at Aspen and smiled at her. She nodded and I slipped out of the door. I bumped straight into him and he caught me as I fell back.
"Watch out klutz," he laughed. I was surprisingly glad to see that he was in a good mood again.
"Sorry," I apologized. He looked at me with confusion written on his features.
"For what?" he asked. I was surprised that he had seemingly forgotten all about our mini fight.
"For yelling at you." I gave him a quick hug. For the small amount of time that we had known each other, we had become fast friends. "For saying that you wouldn't understand. It's just that you learn not to trust anyone when you grow up knowing no one wants you."
He smiled. "The truth is that I've never really been good with words. I've never been good with trying to tell people that I need them, that I want them to see how much I need them to hear that I need them to say that I'm doing something wrong. Maybe that's something I inherited from my mother, or maybe that's something I've grown on my own. But I know that that's what I need."
He nodded with that smile still stuck on his face. He suddenly laughed something I would never really understand. "That was deep," he gasped. I smiled back at him and I could feel my eyes melting from they're usual cold hardness. "I don't think I've ever heard anyone talk like that."
"Like what?"
"Like they need to convince the person that they're talking to that they're completely justified in what they've done. I admire that about you. And, I have to apologize for yelling at you. Your life is rubbish so far already; you don't need anything else from someone you just met." I smiled at this. It was the nicest thing anyone had ever said to me, which isn't much but still.
"Thanks. That has got to be one of the nicest things anyone has ever said to me. Which isn't to say much, but you know what I mean." I watched him as he laughed. He was cute, I could give him that, but he wasn't really my type. I liked the dark mysterious guys, not the happy, loud guys.
"I know what you mean. How about we go back to the compartment and get changed. We're almost there, plus I want you to meet Victoire and Teddy." I nodded and followed him back to the compartment where Fred was waiting patiently.
"Glad to see you two could make it. Are you both okay now? Did you hug and kiss?" he asked teasingly.
"No!" we both replied too quickly. "No," I replied slower. Fred narrowed his eyes at the both of us, but then turned to James, completely blowing me off.
"So. This dork came into this compartment and guess what I did!" he said excitedly. James shook his head distractedly and then looked out of the window, sitting down. "I used one of dad's puking pastilles!"
"Really?!" James asked, finally perking up. Fred nodded with a giant grin plastered onto his face. "Did it work?!"
"Yeah. I cleaned it all up though," Fred said with a cheeky smile. James and I laughed at the look on his face. James turned to me and saw that I had a notebook in hand.
"What's that?" he asked me.
"Nothing," I replied.
"Come on."
"Fine!" I sighed. I looked down at the notebook and started to sing the words that I had written down.
"Maybe no one told you, there is strength in your tears, and so you try to keep from pouring out. But what if you unlock the gate that keeps your secrets all, do you think that there's enough that you might drown."
I was interrupted by a deep voice coming down the train compartments, "We are arriving at Hogwarts. Please gather all of your things, change and wait until we stop."
I could feel the train slowly stop. I quickly threw on the robes that I had pulled out of my trunk and shoved everything else back into my trunk. "Can't we just get there?" I asked Fred and James, a blush creeping up my neck as I saw the astonished looks on their faces.
"Yeah," Fred said, nodding his head but not getting that look off of his face. James just nodded and didn't say anything. I just looked at them with my eyebrows raised.
The train finally stopped and I picked up all my things. Maybe James and I hadn't reconciled our relationship. I looked down at my hands and realized that they were trembling. I was trembling. What the hell was the matter with me? I never shook, ever. But then again, I almost never cried. And I just cried in front of almost everyone not a full hour ago. I was slowly falling apart; no one had ever told me that tears were something that was not acceptable. They showed that I was weak, that I was afraid of something that would never happen. That I was afraid of the future. That I was afraid of the present.
"Are you coming, Snips?" James called with a smile on his face. I smiled quietly to myself and followed Fred and James.
We stepped out of the train and could see the large castle looming over us. It was beautiful. Gray with large turrets and beautiful trees overlaying the entire thing. It was beautiful, as if I had to say it again. The lake looked as though it was black glass, with a few ripples when the wind blew its cold gale against us. We all huddled as we saw a looming figure overhead. It was about as twice as high as a man and twice as wide. He ushered us to a row of boats and said only four per boat. James, Fred, Aspen and I all climbed into one.
"Here we are!" James whispered into my ear, his warm breath tickling my ear.
XoXo
I looked around me and saw that there were four tables. One for each of the houses, Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. James and Fred and Aspen all wanted to be in Gryffindor, while I found Slytherin to be more fascinating. Not that I would admit it.
Professor McGonagall, the teacher that had come to visit me when I was still at the orphanage, crowded us into a line and pulled out a long list. A random boy came up and put a stool and hat down. The hat opened a rip in its brim and began singing. After the song was done, McGonagall pulled out a long list and began reading off the names.
"Abercrombie, Liam."
"HUFFLEPUFF!"
"Austen, Emma."
"RAVENCLAW!"
"Clarens, Lucy."
"SLYTHERIN!"
"Demoines, Noah."
"GRYFFINDOR!"
"DeClare, Evan."
"SLYTHERIN!"
"Emparentes, Lily."
"SLYTHERIN!"
"Evans, Jacob."
"RAVENCLAW!"
It continued on with this, with the rest of us twitching and waiting for something to happen to the rest of us. James was bouncing his leg up and down, Fred was rubbing his hands together and I was waiting for something to happen. Suddenly I heard my name being called.
"Lestrange, Acacia!"
I could hear so many whispers behind me and I could feel hot tears filling my eyes and a blush creeping its way up my cheeks.
"Lestrange? As in Bellatrix Lestrange?"
"Could that be her daughter?"
"Why isn't she dead yet?"
I still stepped up to the stool with my eyes fixed on the prize and my chin raised. I was humming the last words to my song in my head.
"If no one will listen
If you decide to speak
If no one's left standing after the bombs explode
If no one wants to look at you
For what you really are
I will be here still
No one can tell you where you alone must go
There's no telling what you will find there
And, God, I know the fear that eats away at your bones
Screaming every step, "Just stay here"
If no one will listen
If you decide to speak
If no one's left standing after the bombs explode
If no one wants to look at you
For what you really are
I will be here still
If you find your fists are raw and red from beating yourself down
If your legs have given out under the weight
If you find you've been settling for a world of gray
So you wouldn't have to face down your own hate
If no one will listen
If you decide to speak
If no one's left standing after the bombs explode
If no one wants to look at you
For what you really are
I will be here still
If no one will listen
If you decide to speak
If no one's left standing after the bombs explode
If no one wants to look at you
For what you really are
I will be here still
I will be here still."
I pulled the hat onto my head and could hear the voice in my head.
"Where to put you. Where to put you. Your mother and father were both in Slytherin, but something tells me that you wouldn't do well in there. Some of your family was in Gryffindor, which would make a little more sense. You are brave and fearless, but you would do anything to get what you want. I believe that you would do best in GRYFFINDOR!" it said loudly.
I was so excited that I finally got into a house that no one would have expected, I was proving the people wrong already. They would never have expected that. I was excited for one thing and one thing only, I would be with my friends, I would be showing people wrong and I would be learning more about my past. Everything was coming together like it should.
XoXo
So there you go. Another chapter in the life of Acacia. R&R. Tell your friends, tell them to tell your friends and don't forget to READ AND REVIEW!!!
Anyway, I liked the song because it really gave me inspiration for her next chapter. I know that it takes me forever to update, but I'll try for at least once a week from no on, okay?
Thanks to everyone who reviewed! You know I love you! Don't forget to REVIEW! I'll love you when you do and come after you if you don't! Just kidding. I don't even know who are, probably.
-Ed
