Broken Wings / tom riddle

Chapter 4 - The Merperson

Briar headed outside of the castle down to the grounds for her first care of magical creatures class. It was chilly outside so she wrapped her green and silver scarf tightly around her neck.

When she reached the class the group of Slytherins she sat with at the feast were standing around huddled in a group. Briar watched as she saw the other students in the class avoid them, however their focused turned to Briar as she approached. The Gryffindors faces were painted with anticipation waiting to see if Briar would join the group of Slytherins.

Avery waved at Briar which earned him a harsh glare from Tom.

"Stop being nice to her just because you want to get in her skirt," Gabriel teased Aleks. Embarrassed, he turned away from her and stood silently whilst the group continued whispering.

They were always so secretive, Briar thought that she probably should care, but she didn't. She did not come to Hogwarts to make friends or be caught up in gossip, she wanted to make it through the year and leave as quick as she could. She was not even too concerned with her grades really. What will be, will be, she thought. A wizarding education meant nothing to a faerie.

Briar stood behind the group of Slytherins, she would not be joining them she decided. The teacher emerged from the forest and spoke instructions to the class clearly,

"Today we will be studying the Merpeople of the black lake," he said. "Now I want you all to take great caution, Merpeople are viscous creatures. Don't get too close and avoid interacting with them, as you are now seventh years I can trust you will follow my instructions carefully." The teacher spoke to the students as he lead them down to the black lake.

"Now I want you to observe their behaviours as well as their physical anatomy, two pages of parchment will be due on these creatures next class." The class groaned at the professors request, "Well what are you waiting for? Begin your note taking, you may use your textbooks if required." The class split off and began their observations, the Merpeople were barely visible under the thickness of the dark water. Of course Tom and his group were able to get the best viewing spot, sitting down on a large rock near the lake, they wrote their notes frantically, no one dared to approach them.

Briar stood alone, she must of looked lost because a girl approached her from behind, "Hello!" She spoke in a friendly tone. Briar turned to face the girl, she had honey brown skin that sparkled in the small area of sunshine where she stood. She had black curly hair that was lustrous, and kind brown eyes that seemed like they could warm up her body in the cold weather.

"I'm Cordelia, Nott, Cordelia Nott," she said with a feminine laugh.

"Hi, i'm Briar," she replied.

"Need some help? Merpeople are awful creatures, I swear i've seen one drag a deer into the lake before from my dorm window," she said.

"Ah, at least you get to enjoy windows in your common room." Briar joked to the Gryffindor as they moved closer to the lake.

The pair sat and began flicking through their textbooks making notes on Merpeople. "Their fins are angled like that to maximise their speed." Cordelia read out from the book. Just as she finished her sentence, a mermaid began to surface just below the water. Cordelia jumped back from the edge quickly.

"Briar move!" She screamed out earning the attention of the rest of the class.

"Miss Emeralds, move away from the water please," the teacher spoke to Briar in slight panic. The mermaid however did not look at Briar with hostility.

"Hold out your hand," the creature shrieked to the redhead, it's head now fully exposed out of the water. The thoughts of the deer, bloodied and wounded that Delia had described to her flashed in her mind, yet she found herself reaching out to the mermaid.

"MISS EMERALDS!" The professor began to now yell.

Tom and his group closed their books and moved closer to watch, Tom's eyes were fixated on the girl and the Merperson, he had never seen one act this way before.

The mermaid grabbed Briar's wrist and pulled her in closer so that no one else could hear the words she was about to speak, which earned fearful gasps from the class as they thought they were about to witness their new classmate being dragged into the lake.

"We have waited years for you to rise and do what needs to be done, stay clear of the devil Miss Emeralds, do not stray from your true path." The Merperson whispered harshly and swiftly into Briar's ear as they grabbed her hand and placed a small blue stone in it before pushing the girl away and retreating into the water.

Briar quickly pocketed the stone before anyone could see, but Casper Rosier spotted it with his sharp eyes. The class stared at her once again in silence, she was not making it easy for herself to blend in here. Between the Boggart and now this, Briar knew no one would want to be in close proximity of her.

She grabbed her books and stormed off from the lake. She felt eyes on her still as she walked, so she turned around to face the students.

She decided not to go back to the castle, she needed to cool down. So instead she began walking in the forest until she found a curtain of vines which lead to a quiet area filled with trees and pretty flowers, it felt almost comforting to her. A weird sensation, Briar never felt comfortable anywhere. It reminded her of the faerie fields she would spend time in during her childhood, it truly was beautiful.

She inhaled the pale pink roses as she lowered herself down against the trunk of a large tree. She couldn't do it anymore, she had only been at Hogwarts a few days now and it seemed with every passing day it was becoming more difficult.

Tears welled in her eyes, but she fought them back, she wasn't sad, she was just tired. Tired of always being different, tired of being alone, tired of never being able to be her true self.

She reached into her pocket and grabbed out the blue stone the mermaid had given to her, she had no idea what it was but it looked familiar. She reached for her wand and noticed that the stone was the same as what was on her wand although it was a different colour. Just as confused as ever, she placed both items back into her robe, and began to observe her surroundings more. Then she saw it, a butterfly, flying.

Something Briar longed for with all her heart, to use her wings to fly again. The butterfly danced around her head as more came to join it, a collection of them formed and flew in circles as if it they were teasing her, reminding her of all the things she couldn't have: wings, family, freedom.

And that's all it took for Briar to begin to sob into her arms, alone.