Chapter Four:

After Christmas, the time seemed to fly by for Olivia, even though things had changed slightly. She spent almost a month and a half teaching Professor Flitwick the modification to the hover charm, and he said that he would submit her findings to the Ministry of Magic under her name, to see if it could be added to the curriculum.

He had explained that to his knowledge, no modification had ever been taught, or found furthermore, in a ministry-approved class. And while he assured her that he found her to be absolutely brilliant, he didn't want to lose his job just yet.

Olivia completely agreed with him, and in fact, had asked that her name not be mentioned in the inquiry to the Ministry, but Flitwick had refused to deny her the credit that was rightfully hers and had sent it anyways.

Olivia had had several ideas for other modifications that could be possible, most of which she had yet to try out due to an increase in homework for coming exams. Professor Flitwick had asked what these ideas were, but she didn't share. She wanted to get her hands on the project first. It was, after all, her idea.

Classes had changed for her since Christmas, but not in the way she had expected. After her stunt at the Christmas feast, which Flitwick had been able to talk McGonagall out of punishing her based on the fact that it was an amazing display of magical talent, teachers had begun to pay more attention to her. Her face had finally been connected to her name on the papers she handed in, and many of the professors were seeing her as the talented student she was.

Often times they would call on her for the answers, even though she hadn't raised her hand. At first, this had been very startling. So startling in fact, that the first time she had heard her name called, she had sat up straight from the hunch she had affected over her notes on the desk, blinked owlishly at Professor Flitwick from behind her glasses, and said, in quite a scratchy voice, "Me?"

"Yes you," he had exclaimed over the sudden roar of laughter, and even though Olivia's face turned red and she sunk a little lower in her seat, she recited a very clever answer, including what the textbook had said, as well as her own take on the spell and how she found it most helpful if you moved your wand with more of a swish then a flick. That had stopped the laughter.

But it wasn't just Professor Flitwick. In potions, Professor Windell had asked her what she thought of the use of powdered unicorn horn in the healing potion they were working on. And in transfiguration, she was asked to perform her version of the spell in front of the entire class because Professor Kinsley had watched her and noticed that her wand movement was the most refined and wanted her to demonstrate for others.

There were several other times that Olivia was called upon, and she was beginning to fear she was being regarded as a know it all, but actually, she had become somewhat of a legend.

No one, not since Fred and George Weasley of course, had had the gall to perform spells on teachers. Of course, when Fred and George had done it, it had been for a righteous cause, and it was rumored that no one really liked that teacher anyway. But the two would have been expelled for what happened if they hadn't left willingly. And they were known for that sort of thing, Olivia had been told, so most of them hadn't been surprised.

Olivia's case was entirely different. She had performed magic on a teacher, magic that was rumored to be lasting and dangerous, and had gotten away with it. Of course, the rumors were outrageous and untrue, but no matter what Olivia heard, she saw no conclusive way of disproving it, so she didn't waste her energy.

For the first few weeks after the students had returned from Christmas break, they had whispered and pointed at her wherever she went. Some of the older year boys had even asked to shake her hand for they found her to be most admirable. She had blushed profusely at this, stammered thanks, and rushed on to class.

The hubbub around her died rather quickly, but the damage had been done. People noticed her now, a lot more then they had before. They asked her for help in class, and if they had questions on homework, they easily sought her out in the library to ask her. She became known as one of the smarter students in the first year group, but it wasn't, strangely, a bad thing.

Back in her old school, Olivia had always feared being seen as one of the smart kids. They were often picked on or made fun of, and usually had no friends. At Hogwarts, it was different. The students seemed to appreciate that she was smart, they didn't feel like it was overbearing. Olivia assumed it was because she was modest about it, tried to hide it away. She didn't flaunt her intelligence. Simply believed in it. For that reason, students felt comfortable seeking out her help.

She still didn't have friends though. Not that she minded. Olivia found that it was easier to study if she didn't have friends. After Christmas break, her year mates had tried the whole friend thing a second time. Sitting by her in class, next to her at lunches, even following her to the library and finding seats among the stacks of books that frequented her table. However, all of the talking was distracting and she stopped joining in once she found a book on stealth spells. She had been toying with the idea for Lumos. What if she could cause some other object to be the source of the light, not just the tip of her wand?

The attempt at friendship lasted about as long as the rumors, and soon Olivia was by herself at the table once more, though the girls were still friendly towards her. However, she wasn't alone in the library. Soon, it became a popular place, for all year levels, as the exams were coming up rather quickly.

Olivia wasn't worried. She studied just like always, her usual amount. And when she sat down for the end of the year exams, she didn't find them to be all that difficult. In fact, her biggest problem was the time constraint, as she found herself explaining rather a lot and running out of time towards the end.

Then before she knew it, Olivia was packing her trunks and heading out of the castle for the train. The school year was over and it was time to return home. At first, she felt a sort of pang at having to leave Hogwarts. She had been informed, like every other student, that she was not allowed to use magic outside of school grounds and so must retire her wand until the end of the summer.

She felt for sure that she wouldn't be able to follow this rule. Magic was so deeply apart of her that the thought of not feeling it working, not having the wand vibrating in her hand as she cast a spell, would drive her crazy before long. Added to that losing the library and her constant source of knowledge, and Olivia was quite sad to leave.

It wasn't until she was on the train, however, that she began to get nervous. She had developed a little bit of a reputation over the course of the year. What would they think if they knew of her past, of her family? What would they think if her mother showed up to take her away, covered in bruises? Or if her stepfather came, yelling and ranting, swinging his fists? What would they think if both of them were there?

Olivia felt her hands begin to shake again, and that deep despair that hadn't been with her since Christmas, came crawling back in. As she sat on the bench within her tiny, empty, train compartment, she ran through all the scenarios in her head of how she could be greeted at the train station in just a few hours time, and none of them were good. None at all.

"May I sit here?" a voice called breaking into her reverie. She turned to the door and there stood Teddy Lupin. She almost smiled as she looked up at him. It seemed he said that to her a lot.

"Sure," she whispered as he sat down beside her and Dylan and Roger filed in behind. They immediately launched themselves into talk of summer vacation and the plans they had made, but Olivia remained silent. What plans would she have? Hiding away in her room was one, keeping her mother from being beaten too badly was another.

Obviously not the most pleasant thoughts she had ever had. But it was hard to go back to that kind of life after so many months of goodness. She felt guilty for not wanting to return. Shouldn't she want to be with her mother?

And it wasn't that she didn't want to be with her mother. She did! She missed her mother so much that sometimes it was a physical ache. Olivia just wished that she could have her mother and her magic too.

"What about you Olivia?" Teddy asked, breaking into her thoughts. She wondered why it was that he always tried to get her to join in the conversation. Didn't he realize she was perfectly content with just sitting there, letting the noise become background to her thoughts?

"What about me?" She asked in a slightly dreamy voice as she turned her eyes away from the moving landscape and looked around at the compartment. Somehow she had zoned out for the take off of the train, just as she had on the way into school.

"Do you have any plans for the summer?"

Olivia thought of her mother and of her stepfather and of what she would be returning to once more, then slowly shook her head. "Just the usual summer boredom, I guess."

"My family and I are going to this really neat lake for a few weeks in July. You can come if you like," Teddy offered. A gasp turned Olivia's head towards Roger and she watched as a shocked expression crossed his face.

"But you never—"

"Shut up Roger!" Dylan barked, as Roger ogled between the two of them. Olivia wondered slightly at this, but then Dylan engaged Roger in a more interesting conversation at something called Quidditch and Teddy repeated his question.

She pursed her lips in consideration. A lake? That meant swimming. Swimming meant bathing suits. And bathing suits revealed far too much skin, skin that would more likely then not have acquired several bruises.

It wasn't that her stepfather beat her regularly, not at all. When he hit her, if ever on purpose, it was often as an after thought, or because her mother wasn't within reach during one of his rages. No, all her bruises came from trying to defend her mother. She often got in the way of his punches.

"If you're worried about being the only girl, Victoire will be there. And so will my Aunt Ginny and Aunt Hermoine. It's not like you'll be alone. There's no need to be shy. You would have lots of fun!" Teddy nudged her elbow playfully, teasing a smile out of her serous expression.

It did sound like fun. But her mother needed her.

"It is very tempting. It's not that I'm shy, it's just that…" she paused here, not knowing what to say, or how to explain it in a way that it wouldn't seem as bad as it was.
"My mother gets sick often, and I want to be there in case she needs me. I'll ask when we reach King's Cross, but I doubt she'll agree."

"Maybe if she talks to my grandmother, she'll be more lenient. What's your address? I'll owl you," Teddy began to rummage in his pocket for a piece of parchment and a quill.

"I don't know if that's such a good idea…" Olivia began. An owl showing up at her window? Or even worse, her mother's? Her stepfather would go ballistic.

"Why not?" Teddy asked as he set the parchment against his leg, ready to write. Olivia couldn't think up a suitable lie for this, and in fact, didn't really want to lie to Teddy at all. He was such a nice boy. He seemed to see her hesitation. "How about if you owl me then?"

"I don't own an owl."

"Then I'll have to send you the owl. What is your address?" With a sigh, Olivia gave it up to him. Even as she said it aloud, she could feel a doom settle on her shoulders. This would end badly. She slumped back into her seat and let out a sad sigh. It wasn't Teddy's fault; he just wanted to be friends. But didn't he understand she wasn't the type of girl he wanted to be friends with? She was bad news.

Teddy must have seen her lowered spirits, for he suggested a game of exploding snap. After spending several minutes explaining the rules to her, the three boys and Olivia spent the rest of the train ride playing.

Before she knew it, the train was sitting in the station and Teddy was pulling her out of her seat and into the aisle. Olivia lost him in the flood of the students, but she didn't mind. Hopefully, if she moved fast enough, she could get her things onto a trolley, find her mother and/or stepfather and disappear before anyone saw her.

She succeeded in securing her trunk rather fast, as she wasn't hindered by a clinging family that surrounded her with hugs and kisses and thousands of questions of how their school year had been and proclamations of "love you" and "missed you". She easily escaped through the crowd and out into King's Cross, but there her plan of escaping quickly came to a screeching halt.

No one was there to meet her.

With a frown, Olivia wove her way through the crowd, thinking perhaps she just couldn't see her mother with the hordes of students and families milling around the station. But a circuit of the interior and there was still no sign of her mother.

Perhaps they were waiting outside? But walking into the sunlight did nothing but cause her to blink. Her mother wasn't there either. How odd. Did she forget what day it was? Did she not realize that today was the day Olivia came home? Or there was traffic. Yes that had to be it. Traffic.

Olivia waited outside for quite some time, watching the students with the happy families going. She noticed several different methods of travel, the most popular of which appeared to be Apparation. One moment the students with his or her mother or father were walking quietly into a darkened alleyway, the next moment they were gone. Olivia found the process of Apparation fascinating and determined that she would dedicate several months when she turned of age mastering that skill. She believed it would be essential at some point.

When the heat became too much for her, Olivia wandered back inside and found a bench to sit on. She tried, very hard, not to look at the clock on the wall behind her, but she couldn't resist, and she turned and looked, realizing she had been at the station for almost two hours.

At this point, there were no more students leaving. No more families, and most of the trains had left for other journeys. There was no one left inside, really, other then the people who worked at the station. Olivia was beginning to worry. This wasn't traffic. No, this was something else. What if her mother really had forgotten about her? Or worse? What if her mother hadn't forgotten? What if she simply couldn't come because something had happened to her?

In her worry, Olivia began to chew on her lower lip, picking at the skin with her teeth until it broke and bleed. She watched the revolving doors to the station obsessively as images crowded inside her head. Not just imagined ones, though those were in there too, but real ones, ones that she had seen with her own eyes.

Her mother with a bloodied lip, her eyes blackened. The time she had her arm put in a cast. A flash of bruised flesh across her ribs the time he had come home drunk from the bar and used his boots against her. So many images, so many horrors. Which one was the case this time?

Tears began to flood Olivia's eyes, and she sniffed them back bravely, wanting to appear calm incase her stepfather showed up. She couldn't allow him to see how scared she really was. If he felt the fear in her, she would no longer be able to fly under his radar, or be as unnoticeable as before.

A movement close to her left side had her looking away from her constant vigilance of the doors. Only instinct stopped her from whipping her head around to see what it was. Moving just her eyes, she saw Teddy headed past her with an elderly woman who looked strongly of him. They had the same eyes, she noticed immediately, though Teddy had more of a wolfish look about his face.

They were approaching almost even with her now. Teddy was facing forward, towards the doors. Maybe he wouldn't see her. Olivia concentrated as hard as she could on blending in to her surroundings. If she concentrated hard enough, she was certain she would blend right in with the bench and he would walk right by without seeing her.

"…sounds like a lovely girl, Teddy," said the elderly woman with a knowing smile on her face. Knowing what, Olivia was uncertain. Teddy obviously didn't know either, for he turned to the woman to see if he could find the answer in her face. Olivia held her breath, praying now. She didn't want him to know that no one had come for her.

"What do you mean Grandma… Olivia?" Shoot.

Olivia exhaled loudly, before settling into the inevitable. For some reason, Teddy just couldn't leave her alone like she wanted to be. He always had to come and see what was wrong, or if he could sit with her, or try and get her to talk. Couldn't he just figure it out already? She wasn't friend material.

"Hello, Teddy. Who is this?" Olivia asked in a rather dry voice as Teddy walked the few feet to where she was sitting and frowned down at her.

"What are you still doing here? It's been nearly three hours since the train arrived. I thought you were long gone." He frowned harder at her, looking at her face, the redness to her eyes that suggested her tears, the dried blood on her lip from where she had chewed that showed her worry. The way she tried to look brave but how her eyes betrayed her. "What's wrong?"

"Teddy, don't be rude!" The woman with him chuckled softly before holding out her hand for Olivia to shake. "I'm his Grandmother, Mrs. Tonks. And you are?"

"Olivia Ballentine."

"Olivia, what's wrong? Why are you still here?" Teddy demanded, his thin face set in a frown, his too long canine teeth flashing through his words. He sat down on the bench beside her and reached out for her hands, covering them where they twisted in her lap.

"What are you doing here?" Olivia demanded in return, trying to remove his hands from hers, but he clutched in just such a way that she couldn't quite break his grip.

"Grandma is a Muggle. She has to drive here and it's a bit far. Took her longer then she expected," he said with a shrug, but Olivia could tell that he hadn't finished questioning her.

"Would you like us to wait with you for your parents, my dear?" Mrs. Tonks offered as she smiled down with her old woman smile. She didn't know of horrors in this world, not with that kind of a smile. No, she couldn't possibly know. It was best that she didn't expose them to this.

"No, that's quite alright. I'm certain that my parents are on their way right now. In fact, they'll probably be here any minute. You go on ahead," she tried to give them a convincing smile, but she could see that though it worked on Mrs. Tonks, Teddy was yet to be convinced. Why was he such a pest?

"Well, if you're sure, dear," Mrs. Tonks said and patted her knee, before getting creakily to her feet. "I'll just go get the car. Teddy, love, why don't you wait here with Livy?"

"Yes, Grandma," Teddy smiled but his eyes remained serious and on her face. Olivia's sixth sense for danger began to tingle. Oh no, she thought as she pulled at her hands. Something was about to go terribly wrong.

"Where's your parents Olivia? Why haven't they come to get you yet?" Teddy asked in a quiet voice. Olivia felt a lump rising in her throat, the same one she experienced any time someone tried to dig too deep.

"Where's yours?" She fired back, tugging harder. She was beginning to panic. Something was coming. She could feel each step closer it took in shivers down her spine.

"They're dead." He said it so matter of factly that for a moment, Olivia stopped thinking about herself and felt true sadness for Teddy. It must have been hard to lose them.

"I'm sorry," she said, sincerely. Then she heard it. The faintest whisper that sounded like her name. She startled and looked towards the door, the direction from which she had heard the sound coming. And she saw her mother, standing there with the oddest expression on her face, her blue eyes so huge and intense.

Olivia forgot to struggle out of Teddy's grip as she felt warmth flood her insides. So long, was her only thought as she stared at the expression on her mother's face that had once been so familiar. And now she was here, finally. She was here.

A smile broke across her face, so wide she thought the muscles in her face would break from disuse. But then they were warming up to the smile and it didn't hurt anymore. Nothing hurt anymore. Everything was wonderful.

Teddy was taken aback by the look on her face. He had never seen her smile that way before. He found that he preferred when she smiled like that. When she looked happy. And he realized that she wasn't happy at school. She had never, ever, looked like this at school before. What was it that made her this way?

"Olivia."

And just like that, it was gone. Like the flick of a light switch. Teddy watched, fascinated, as the smile dropped from her face. Her eyes moved in a jerking motion from the doors behind his shoulder, to directly beside where he was standing. Then they traveled up and up, and opened so wide behind those thin framed glasses that sat so cutely on her face.

And then the hands he was holding began to shake, shake so hard it was a wonder to him that they didn't just come apart. And her whole body was shaking and that expression on her face was one of barely contained fear. Her mouth opened just the slightest, trying to admit some sound of distress and managing only to exhale.

"What—" He began, wanting to question what had brought on this change.

"We're leaving!" A voice shouted. And a hand was crossing his vision. A big hand, three times the size of his own. It gripped Olivia's arm and jerked her clear off the seat, off her feet, until she was standing beside the huge man. That was Teddy's first impression of Olivia's stepfather. The man was huge. He was taller then Teddy believed men could be, though maybe it was just the air of intimidation that hung from him that made him seem so tall. His body was corded with muscles that added to the force he exuded.

When Teddy managed to tear his eyes away from the giant of a man, it was to see Olivia hanging from his grip, her arm raised painfully, her face twisted in a wince. She was still shaking; he could see the fine trembles from where he sat.

She had just enough time to grab the handle of her trolley and then the man was dragging her away, without so much as a goodbye. Before Teddy knew what was happening Olivia was gone.

A/N review please! =]