Iniquity Rises Book 1 of Iniquity Series~Now Complete~

Ch. 10

The following month that passed, the communication situation with Tom didn't get any better.

In fact it only worsened as Rabastian began hanging around me, more and more, along with Lucius and his brother Rod. I couldn't place my finger on it, but it seemed to me as though Tom was jealous. Though I quickly threw that idea out of the window when I saw him locking lips with Jennica Avery, Billy's Avery's cousin, right outside the potions room.

I felt hurt begin to flash within me, but quickly disappear as we all passed them. Bastian quickly wrapped a comforting arm around my shoulders in comfort as we walked into the room. Professor Slughorn waited, with a projector already set up; he seemed rather excited as we all sat down waiting for the class to begin.

"Come on. Come on. Move along. We have a rather long lesson to get through this morning." He said, sitting down on the edge of the wooden stool.

I quickly pulled out my parchment, an ink bottle, and my quill pen. The lesson was finding a key ingredient to certain antidotes, and where they could be found. I took vigorous notes and ignored the stares I kept getting from Tom across the room, sending glares towards our direction every few minutes.

After the lesson finished I quickly made my way towards the Great Hall, ignoring the jabbing I kept feeling on my mind. When I got to the table I quickly sat down without looking in any direction but the table before me. I usually sit in between Tom and Bella but today I chose to sit on the far end of the table, closest to the door. Making Bella and all my friends dutifully sit next to me, even though they were intimidated by the glares we were receiving from Tom, and those of our friends who chose to sit with him.

"Seriously! This little squabble that is happening  between Riddle and you needs to stop. Right this instant." Andromeda commanded, sounding like a mother.

I lowered my head chastised for a second before looking up to meet her gaze. Sighing to calm all the emotions I felt, trying to get  a grip on them, because I knew that if I lost grip for just a second before I spoke quietly, straining to keep my voice calm and even.

"Stay out of it, Dromeda. I don't want any of you involved in this. The only thing I can and will inform you of. Is this, Tom has chosen a different path, a path in which I refuse to follow in blindly, even if he is the closest friend I have, and it's tearing me apart to have to stay away from him." I say, in a low and even voice, watching her sad eyes stare back at me.

"Now, if you really want to know what happened then ask, but I seriously suggest you ask when we are in our room. Not here, in front of the entire school, within prying eyes and eavesdropping ears." I said, flicking my wrist to the side as if to show her that everyone on our table was indeed listening in to the conversation.

"You know, Annie, you don't sound anything like a normal twelve-year-old right now." Andromeda said, causing Bella and Narcissa to nod in agreement.

"Yes, well, when you see and feel things the way I do and go through the situation I am currently going through that tends to happen." I replied, digging into the golden crust of my steak and kidney pie with more force than necessary.

I continued to try attempting to eat, while trying to ignore the mental jabbing I felt, and the weird looks people kept throwing my way. I could feel my anger begin to rise as I continued to hear murmuring, some even daring to go as far as to point at me while muttering to their friends. I tried to take a calming breath but it all went shot to hell as I suddenly felt a surge of blistering hot energy go through me, going from head to toe, and all of the glass objects within the room burst into bits, flying everywhere.

Rabastian, who happened to be sitting next to me, quickly looked towards me, his chocolate brown eyes widening as he stared slack-jawed at me. I could see my reflection in Dromeda's eyes, my hair now had different colored streaks, and my eyes were a bright vivid color,  looking like a shiny jewel rather than the unique color it usually was. 

"Annie?! Annie, are you alright?" She asked, her voice calming.

I felt as I shook my head at her in response, my fingers loosen around the fork I still held, feeling as my eyes began to roll to the back of my head, dropping my fork as black spots began to appear in my vision. The last thing I remember before I fell back was a panicked Tom rushing towards me.

Right after the darkness seeped into my line of vision, images quickly began to appear before me. I could see what looked to be a foreign country. Possibly.

I saw what looked to be my mother and father, rushing down a dirty road. No one was following them. It looked like a rural place. Possibly a farm? 

My mother looked worried, she began pacing inside the home they walked into. 

"John, we have to go back. He's after her! That muggle is after them too. We can fight him off easily, and leave a false trail. Please you can't just make me sit here while I see these things!" She said, her voice beginning to raise with every word she spoke.

"Lucy, sweetheart, this is what's best for right now. We must wait. If we go back now, we'll be putting all of them in danger. We can't. I love Sophie too much to let anything happen to her or you. When you married me, I promised I would love and protect you every single day of my life. That's what I intend to do." He said, hugging her to him.

"I miss her so much." She cried, burying her face into her dainty hands. 

"I know, sweetheart, believe me, I know." He whispered, hugging her to him, and kissing the top of her head.

The image disappeared before me once more and I woke up startled as another familiar room appeared before me. I was lying in a cot in the hospital wing. I noticed Bella and her sisters were surrounding the cot, worried.

"Hello?" I said, raising my brow at them, giggling as they all jumped up startled.

"Annie! Merlin! You gave us a fright when you fell to the ground unconscious. We all thought you were dead." Bella said, worried as she sat down next to me.

Andromeda and Narcissa rolled their eyes before thwacking her on the back of her head. Shaking their heads simultaneously and muttering things before looking at me.

"Ay—Ah—Ouch! What did I say now?" She complained, rubbing her sore head with the back of her raven curl-filled head, pouting.

"Why is your hair now emerald green, sapphire blue, crimson red, with flecks of silver and gold all around it? Wait, it also has bronze flecks too.." Cissy wondered, staring entranced at my head.

I shrugged indifferently, trying to keep my emotions at bay. The only time that my emotions have ever gotten out of control my father was the only who was able to calm me down. I was now worried, since my dad isn't here and my anger got the best of me or I felt a strong emotion, things could get dangerous, really fast.

Now, I was going to have bigger problems than quarreling with Tom. Great, why can't I have one normal day at school?

Ah, yes. Because this would be normal within the wizarding world. Since I am a part of it, then this world, it must be normal for these kinds of things to happen. Wonderful.