"GRYFFINDORS! THIS WAY," A red-headed girl yelled out, and walked out of the Great Hall. One of the Marauders, Lupin, followed her. Those two were the sixth-year Prefects, apparently. Most of our house followed, but Shannon held me back.
"We need to talk to head master Dumbledee," She told me matter-of-factly, and looked around for him.
"Dumbledore, smart one, his name is Dumbledore." I rolled my eyes, and sighed. I didn't see our Professor anywhere. I was willing to bet that he had already retired to his office. Too bad for me, I had no clue where his office was. I voiced these thoughts, and Shannon frowned.
"But we've got to get my little sister out of Slytherin. They'll eat her alive!" She looked a bit scared for the kid, but I knew Kerry could hold on her own. I smiled at Rissa as she bid us a good night, and headed up with the Hufflepuffs.
"Shan, we'll talk to him in the morning," I started, but she simply put a hand over my mouth, shook her head, and pulled me down some random corridor. We walked for Merlin knows how long, until I was convinced even I was lost. Since Shannon had never been here, I knew she had no clue where she was going.
"Hey!" Shan growled as I bit her fingers, which had still been over my mouth. I shrugged, and sat down by the wall.
"Hey nothing," I mumbled angrily. "You've gotten us lost! I don't even know where we are! We could've easily gotten directions in the morning." I sighed and ran a hand through my black locks, pulling out a golden piece of hair in the process. I stood once more, and started to pull Shan in the direction I thought the Gryffindor tower might be, but bumped into something. I fell back, crashing into Shannon, and then the wall. She swore, and I rubbed my head. The crazy part was, when I looked up, there was nothing for us to have run into.
"Sammy!" Shan exclaimed irritatedly. "What was that for?" She rubbed her head and sat up, glaring daggers at me.
"I-nothing," I said quickly, deciding Shan might think I was a bit crazy if I told her I bumped into something that wasn't there. "We might as well stay here, you know. Even if we were to find our tower, we don't know the password."
"Password?" Shannon inquired, finally sounding interested in something other than yelling at a hat.
"In order to enter our tower, we've got to give the Fat Lady the current password, which she changes quite often. 'The Fat Lady' is the portrait that is the door." I explained it quickly, and even though she was nodding, I was pretty sure Shan didn't get it. She didn't get a lot of things when I spoke quickly. I should learn not to do that.
Shannon sighed and nodded, and she lay back, slowly drifting to sleep in the hallway.
'Where's Filch when you need him?' I questioned in my thoughts. I wasn't tired, so I was left to think. I hate it when that happens. I tend to think about way too random things, like a word will randomly pop into my head, and I'll have a whole debate about it. My debate over whether a tomato is a fruit or vegetable was interrupted by light footsteps. I looked to the corner and found Potter and Black, and groaned slighlty. I nudged the girl beside me, and upon seeing two Gryffindors, she popped up.
"Thank God!" She exclaimed. "Would you mind telling us where the hell we are?"
"Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Welcome," James said cheekily.
Needless to say, Shan was ticked. She was tired and irate. I've learned not to be sarcastic around this type of Shannon.
If you'd blinked, then you would have missed Shannon pushing two men, both much bigger than her, up against the wall and threatening them with her wand. Of course, I had to blink, just at that moment. Grr.
Shannon was grinning from one ear to the next. "Oh, Sam?" She drawled, calling me from a debate centered around ducks.
"Hmmm?"
"Would you be willing to come and help me with these two?"
I stood up, seeming bored, but in a flash, I was beside my friend, holding my wand (Elm wood, 11 inches with otter hair and phoenix tears) to Black's throat. It was at that time I realized that he was smiling. "What?" I asked irritably. "You're against the wall, a wand to your throat. What in the world is so hilarious?"
Black nodded towards Shannon, and I turned to see her staring at Potter. In a dreamy manner. "Oh, good God," I muttered under my breath, which caused Black to go on another laughing rant. Shan liked Potter now? Damn it. How the hell that'd happened, I still haven't figured out. I pressed my wand closer to Sirius' throat, and growled. "Shut. Up. And tell me two things: One, where is the Common Room? Two, what's the password?"
"Now, explain to me why I would even consider doing either of those-" Black started, but his eyes landed on my locket. The gray orbs darted to Shan's neck, and found hers as well. I groaned and hid it underneath my robes, but it didn't matter. Two and two were adding up in his head, and the Marauders weren't idiots.
"You? You two were the ones that hexed us at supper?" I groaned again, and persisted my case, though Shan and James were now bickering beside me.
"Why on earth would you think that, Black?"
"You're both wearing lockets."
"Lots of girls wear lockets."
"You're avoiding the question."
"Fine, no, we didn't."
"Um, yes, they did." James spoke up, and I shot a glare at my friend, who looked to the ground guiltily.
"Whatever!" I exclaimed, annoyed. "I just want to get up to bed! Where is the damn Gryffindor Tower, and what's the freaking password?"
James glanced at his expensive-looking watch, and sighed. "It's too late now anyway, Padfoot. Listen, ladies, let us go, and we'll lead you to the tower, alright?" Shannon immediately nodded, letting the boy go. I simply let go of Black to smack her upside her head.
"Lead the way," I muttered.
It took about a half hour to make our way back to the tower. That gave Shannon plenty of time to ogle at her new piece of eye-candy, and Black plenty of time to harass me.
"Why were you two down here?" "What's with the glaring?" "What did we do to you to make you angry at supper?" "Aren't you the girl we sat with on the train?"
But, though I was very tempted to hex the moron into oblivion, I stayed quiet until we reached the Gryffie tower.
"Pigs Feet," James muttered as the Fat Lady swung open, to reveal the roaring fire and the gold and red of the Gryffindor common room. The Common Room was, is, and always will be, my favorite place. Ever. It's so inviting and comforting, it makes me just wanna curl up and fall asleep, even though it's supposed to make me wanna do homework.
"Well, I'm beat. Thanks boys." Shannon yawned and started up to the boys' dormitory. Sirius opened his big mouth to correct her, but I smacked my little hand over his lips. That was rewarded with a big ole' lick, but it didn't bother me. Fairly soon, the stairs turned to a slide, knocking Shan into the ground. I scowled and picked my friend up by her ear.
"This way, smarty," I muttered, taking her up to our room.
-x-x-x-
I walked through the big house, feeling a tad of scaredicatness pulse throughout my veins. The entire place had a cold feel to it, even though I was sure it was at least eighty degrees (Fahrenheit, of course). A chill ran down my spine as the lights began to dim. I wanted to whimper, but I couldn't give myself away. I took in slow breaths, keeping all thoughts at bay. I didn't want to ponder the location I was at, who was here and, more importantly, who wasn't. I'd lose it if I were to think of any of that.
Suddenly, there were loud, rapid footsteps, coming towards me. The entire room was black as pitch now, and I couldn't tell where to run. I felt the tiny bit of exhilaration that I'd had turn to a biting fear, a fear that made my head spin. I heard a sinister laugh, and ran for it, hoping desperately I was headed in the right direction.
I was wrong.
Smack! I ran right into the man from whom I was running, and I felt his large hands wrap around my wrists. His feet were now on top of mine, and I couldn't move. I knew better than to scream; No one would hear me, and it would only anger him.
"So, Laura, we meet again?" The man whispers in my ear, and I jump. I hadn't known his face was so close. I heard him chuckle at my alarm. "Yes, I believe we do. You do realize that I am still a bit angry with you, Laura? It wasn't nice to leave me behind in the artic."
"I'm not Laura," I said weakly, for what seemed like the thousandth time. "And I'm not you wife. Let me go."
More chuckling, and his hands tightened their grip on my tiny wrists. "Oh, Laura, you amuse me so. Of course you are my wife. You have been for over five years. Except you keep running from me." I felt a kiss land on my neck, and I struggled harder. This man was a lunatic. Whatever problems he'd had with his wife wasn't my business! Why did he insist I was some woman named Laura?
"Tsk, tsk, sweetheart. I'd be nicer if I were you. Like I have mentioned, I'm still a bit peeved at you. And I don't think I am the type of person who you would want to seriously anger." I suddenly felt something cool against my forearm, something that made me shiver violently, which was only responded with another kiss to the neck.
He had a knife.
I thrashed against his hold on me, I screamed and yelled and tried to kick. Like I'd feared, this only angered the man.
"Laura!" The man boomed, pushing me against the wall. "Stop it, my dear! I won't harm you, not if you do as I say!" I simply screamed some more, and shook violently with fear. "LAURA!" The man yelled over me, and I felt tears spilling down my cheek.
"I'm not Laura."
I suddenly felt a release of his hold, and I sank to the ground, hands around my knees. I felt the man sitting next to me. His hand reached out for mine, and I scooted away. He followed, however, and whispered to me. "Yes, my doll, yes you are my Laura. You must be, I swear you are! You look just like my Laura, you sound exactly like her. You are my Laura, you simply don't remember."
I started to cry once more. "No, no I'm not! My name is not Laura! My name is Samantha!" I buried my head in my knees, fearing what would become of my life.
"I know you are not Laura." And the knife slashed at me, it cut me over and over again, it hurt me and it brought me near to death. I screamed out in pain, but the man simply laughed, he laughed at me.
"Pleasant dreams, my Laura," He called as the lights in the hall came on, and my vision went black.
-x-x-x-
I awoke the next morning, covered in a sheen of sweat. I found my eyes red and puffy, and I realized I'd been crying. I frowned, and hopped through a warm shower, washing my hair and body, since both were wet with tears and perspiration. I dressed in my Hogwarts robes, tied my curls in a ponytail with a golden ribbon, and threw on my black tennis shoes. I smiled at myself in the mirror, despite my recent fright.
I heard Shan roll over in her four-poster, and I realized it was only six a.m. Dang. I looked over the few other girls in the room, the two Shannon and I shared with. One girl was named Yamin. She was Indian, and very pretty. Her skin was olive-toned; had not a blemish in sight, and her eyes were a beautiful shade of gold. Her long, black hair reached to the floor, and it was always braided. She was the tallest girl I'd ever meet, since she was only four inches away from seven feet, and she was still growing. I was always confused about why she didn't have a boyfriend. I'd asked once, and she'd said that she had an arranged marriage awaiting the day she turned seventeen.
Cooper also shared a room with us, and that irked me to no end. Cooper was the type of girl who only hung out with people she found 'worthy'. Her blond hair ended about at her small waist, and her tanned skin was soft and pretty. Her snobby face held ugly, throw-up green eyes and sharp features. But, despite her yucky outlook on the world and her icky eyes, Cooper was dating Sirius Black. Apparently, she had a 'mega-hot' body. Whatever.
Shannon awoke then, quite groggily, and she showered, dressed, and bushed her short hair, simply letting it hang. My suspicions were confirmed when she put in some contacts. Together, we said good bye to Yamin, who was just waking up, grabbed our bags, and headed down to the Great Hall.
I'd barely sat down when McGonagall handed me my schedule:
Monday, Wednesday, Friday:
Double Potions.
Free Hour.
Transfiguration.
Herbology.
Double Charms.
Free Hour.
Tuesday, Thursday:
Free Hour.
Free Hour.
Astronomy.
Double Defense Against the Dark Arts.
History of Magick.
Double Care of Magickal Creatues.
Sounded pretty good to me.