Defiance (Harry Potter)

Chapter 2 (*)

    After eating, I walk to the common room as slowly as possible, sure that James will be waiting to embarrass me in front of everyone. My theory is proven to be true when I walk through the painting and hear my brother's voice.
    "Why were you out so late Skylar? It's not like you have anyone to meet except those slimy Slytherins." Though inside my blood boils, I look down in mock embarrassment, hoping the teasing will stop sooner.
    "I bet I can count all of your friends on my fingers. The greasy haired git, Padfoot's awful brother, Malfoy, and the other Black. That's just on one hand!" The embarrassment is very real by this point and I can feel my cheeks flaming. Why does he always do this?
    "I do see why you would hang out with my brother," Sirius says. "He's cool among the Slytherins, and you just want to be friends with someone better than you, so you can feel better about yourself. If you're looking for someone better than you, pick anyone!"
    I feel my face get even more red. Most of this isn't true of course, but everyone thinks it is. When your brother is popular and you aren't, your words mean nothing when he's against you. Why do they tease me like this?      
    "Affligo!" James shouts. He loves that spell. It has the same effects as a punch. He casts it again and I fall to the ground with a whimper. James casts the spell over and over. I hear the laughs of everyone. And then, from the pain I imagine, everything goes black.
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    The next thing I hear is James telling someone, "I dunno what happened Madame Pomfrey. I found her in the hallway like this." I'm put down onto something soft. A bed. And then I fall back asleep.
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    I wake up to light streaming in through the window, making me groan. I have a terrible headache and the sun isn't making it any better. Madame Pomfrey rushes over and shuts the curtains.
    "How do you feel dear?" She asks. "Awful," I respond. She hands me a potion and I drink it in one gulp. It's nasty and bitter. Madame Pomfrey examines me for a moment. "Just lie back and I'll send your visitor in."
    James walks in a moment later. He has to play the role of the caring brother so nobody suspects anything. It's not like my parents care but professors certainly would.
    "Sky! Thank goodness you're okay!" He says happily. I nod before responding. "Me too. I wonder what would have happened if I wasn't okay," I tell him innocently. James replies in the same tone of voice.
    "Well I'm glad we don't have to find out." Theres a tense silence before my friends walk in. Sev, Reggie, Lucy, and Cissy smile with relief when they see I'm awake.
    "Sky!" They all say at almost the exact same time, causing me to laugh. Sev grins even wider as he kneels beside my bed. "Are you okay?" He asks.
    "Yeah, there's nothing missing. At least I don't think so," I tell him with fake panic while pretending to look and make sure all my arms and legs are there. All my friends laugh, and I forget for a minute that James is even there. At least until he ruins it.
    "Listen here you slimy snakes, I was trying to have a conversation with my sister." Lucy smirks in his cold Slytherin way, his words icy cold. "A conversation about why you put her in the hospital wing perhaps?"
    James' expression falters, as he wasn't expecting me to tell anyone about his abuse. He looks over to me with a livid expression. "You told them? You weren't supposed to tell anyone."
   His voice is scary calm. I'm honestly terrified. The next thing he says makes me shake. "You just wait," He says before walking away.
    To say I'm afraid of James is an understatement. I don't know why, but James detests me. The next thing I know, everything James has ever done to me goes through my head. A tear slips down my face and all my friends crowd around me, saying encouraging words.
    I don't know where I would be without my friends. In my second year I wanted to be noticed by my parents. I wanted to make James sorry he was so mean to me. I tried to find the most evil Slytherins I could. I discovered that they weren't so evil after all. I still remember when we first met.
    ••••••••••••••••
I was on the Hogwarts express in my second year. I had a miserable summer with James and my parents. I had devised a plan to make them notice me.
    I nervously walked towards the end of the train where all the Slytherins sat. I went through the list of people in my head. Narcissa Black, Regulus Black, Severus Snape, Bellatrix Black, and Lucius Malfoy. They were the most evil, surly people in Hogwarts.
    I saw them in their compartment together and to my surprise, they were smiling and laughing. I had imagined them reading hexes and scowling. I tentatively stood in the open doorway of their compartment.
    Bellatrix was the first one to notice me and once she did, an ugly glare found its way into her face. "What do you want blood traitor?" She asked me. Suddenly rethinking my plan, I stumbled over my words.
    "Well, um, it's just that everyw- Every other compartment is full." The five Slytherins looked at me suspiciously. There was an awkward silence until Regulus had scooted over a bit. "If everywhere else is full."
    They all hated me at first. They ignored me in their compartment until the trolley came along. I had bought a licorice wand and so had Regulus. He began to talk to me.

"That's my favorite candy."

"Mine too."

"I don't blame you for wanting to get away from my brother."

"It's my brother I'm trying to get away from."

    So we began to talk about our awful siblings. The others soon joined our conversation and I found out that they weren't like I expected them to be at all.
    It took several weeks for them to actually accept me. Once they did however, everything changed. We stood up for each other and protected each other. James did hate it, but that didn't matter anymore. My friends mattered now.