Chapter Nine.
Alora Riddle never doubted her high pain tolerance. She couldn't imagine how much extra suffering she would induce if it wasn't for that raised threshold. She imagined that she had gained this advantage from her father, a man who must have endured a lot of discomforts to get to where he was.
But either way, she was thankful for it.
The feeling of flaming hot white knives slashing her body from an internal viewpoint caused her pain receptors to almost give way. It happened so frequently that she had almost grown used to the freshly pierced feeling.
However, every moment she believed that; the pain throbbed to a point of her whole body swelling in an exhausted tide of nausea.
You see, Alora had been a victim of the cruciatus curse for a very long time. Longer than she could remember.
After having an unforgivable curse used against her for so long, it seemed like it was almost normalised. As normalised as the prejudice that swarmed the fabrication of the walls. Whether it was against house-elves, muggles or even their own purebloods; Lucius was no stranger to manipulating crime to receive his way.
This meant that if anyone in the house had ever seen Alora struggling, they had been forced to turn a blind eye. For the sheer terror of their protection. Except for one. Someone cared so deeply about Alora that they were willing to sacrifice themselves for her wellbeing.
Tinkle was very preoccupied with the transportation of Alora. From the basement to the room she knew Alora stayed in, the little elf gripped onto the flimsy body of Alora and disapparated her to the bed.
It had become a way for the elf to bond with her master, despite Alora not being able to talk in her slightly weakened state. It built an invisible wall of trust between them, which was strange because Alora wasn't one to trust.
The constant harassment Alora endured meant that she grew strangely comfortable with the idea of pain. Like her body was sent into a long-lasting chain of numbness.
The concept of pain could have been a mere belief she invented within her imagination, for all she knew. A silly little idea that pricked into her brain, distracting her from the true problems of the world. Alora felt like she needed to be a part of this destruction, not be shipped away to the middle of who knows where with a boy she barely knew.
She was destined to be a part of the action and sending her away, diverted the purpose she served.
She supposed that going away for a while would be... nice though. It wasn't much of an appealing idea, but then again, it wouldn't hurt to distance herself from Lucius and the unnecessary stress he causes.
For the days leading up to her departure, it seemed as if Lucius would miss the girl. He spent hours torturing and torturing her until she was left to do nothing but sit in her room and collect the dust as it fell from the pleated curtains; just like the majority of the furniture pieces did.
She was in a state between barely conscious and not at all, but that didn't mean the pain was fully gone.
Alora's life was filled with nothing but abnormalities.
Comparing her life with a standard witch or wizard would be an incompatible match as every step an ordinary person takes, Alora is forced to take a hundred times more. This meant that she had grown up to build a stone-cold wall and face everything head-on.
However, the feeling that grew in the pit of her stomach pierced her insides and her abdomen as it went into a state of pure adrenaline. Stood on a platform filled with witches and wizards bidding farewells to their children gave her flashbacks of the World Cup. Groups of people spreading hope, joy and love.
It was revolting.
Trying to push past the peculiar feeling, Alora stood beside Narcissa, frozen like a sculpture in Antarctica. Blinking and observing, her eyes inspected every movement carried by each individual.
Adults were holding their partners comfortingly, watching their children ramble in pure ecstasy and excitement of their return for another year. In some cases, join. Just like Alora.
There was a train stationed beside her and the Malfoy family. A deep shade of crimson coated the surface of the large vehicle, which was entranced in a veil of warmth. Steam piping through the chimney filtered the station with smoke, glazing the platform of nine and three quarters with a foggy haze.
Alora had to admit that the sight before her was mesmerising. A feeling she had yet to identify passed through her body smoothly. She felt her lips almost tug up at the sound of the whistle that billowed through the area but she was able to conceal the muscles in her face from doing so.
At the signal of the trains nearing departure, Lucius turned towards both Alora and Draco. "You two best be good this year, you wouldn't want to experience the...", he looked at Alora, "implications if you're not, would you?"
They stayed quiet.
"Now, Draco." He turned to his son, whose hair had fallen just above his eye line and was a lighter shade of blond, due to the reflections of the light. "I must insist that you make sure Alora over here, doesn't draw too much attention to herself." He hissed at his son before turning to Alora.
"And you... you must express yourself as nothing but Alora. No more than that. Do I make myself clear?"
"Sorry I think this fog is clouding my hearing, come again?" She egged the man on, despite the lack of residue from the smoke.
"Alora." He hissed once again, raising an eyebrow in an attempt of intimidation. "I must assure you that this year will not be of any fun to you if you're not... careful."
"Careful of what? The big bad monsters? Last time I checked you are the only fucking monster here." She snarled under her breath, making the younger boy beside her stifle a laugh.
"This is serious, Alora."
"Okay."
"I'm not having the immaturity."
"You'd know a lot about that, wouldn't you?" Alora replied briefly before turning to Narcissa.
The older woman pushed a loose strand out of the younger girl's face and tucked it behind her ear. "Be safe." She gave her a small smile before letting her go.
The couple said goodbye to the duo, watching them as Draco led Alora into the carriage at the sound of the final whistle, that echoed through the platform, signalling the parting of the train and station.
The boy led Alora into a narrow corridor as they stepped into the train. It was filled with rows of compartments and windows decorating each side of the train, windows through which Alora saw families growing further away as they wave goodbye to their loved ones.
The walk towards the Slytherin compartments was silent and slightly uncomfortable. Alora followed Draco as he took large strides down the corridor, earning terrified glances from younger students they pass. "We have to go past all the filth to get to the Slytherin compartments," Draco told Alora, walking past a group of second years chatting each other's ears off about their summer.
At their arrival, Draco stood up straighter than he previously had and slid the compartment door open. He stepped in and greeted the members who were sitting within the compartment with a smile. He expected Alora to also sit however, she was preoccupied with studying the area.
The seats were a velvety material with a mixture of maroon and navy plaid which littered the entire conjoined seating sofas. Between each opposing seat stood a table that was resting against the wall and underneath a large, wooden-framed window that reflected the golden rays of sunlight as the light source began to set.
Watching the girl carefully, the other attendants of the compartment grew curious.
Whether it was the way her wavy brown hair fell across her shoulders in such an organised manner that stunned them, or her uncanny forest green eyes which illuminated the paleness of her cheeks, or the hollowness of said cheekbones and raw beauty of her face, or maybe it was the trace of a scar which fell across her right eye and brow bone which caught their attention.
Either way, none of them knew what to expect or whether she was supposed to be there at all.
That was until Draco spoke up from his window seat. "This is Alora..." He said expectantly, waiting for the missing piece of her name.
"Just Alora will do." She said bluntly, directing her attention to the people in the compartments, still standing by the doorway.
Noticing her intimidating gaze, Draco decided to point out everybody's identification. "Alora, this is Crabbe and Goyle," he pointed at two portly boys with frail pieces of dark brunette hairs etching from their heads. "This is Parkinson," he pointed at a girl with slightly tanned skin, dark brown eyes and a scowling face. "And this, this is Blaise Zabini." He finished by pointing at a boy with a dark buzz cut and a darker skin tone.
Alora simply let off a hum of acknowledgement.
"She's inquisitive, isn't she?" Parkinson whined with a soft twang to her voice.
"I suppose I am," Alora stated plainly, "curiosity killed the cat, but the cat has nine lives." She smiled sadistically while looking at the girl once more. Her stare was fierce and commanding as she studied every feature on her face so that she could prove a point.
"Would you, would you like to take a seat?" Came a thickly laced voice, deep and shallow.
Identifying the voice, she noticed the boy Draco pointed out to be called Blaise had scooted towards Crabbe and made a spot for Alora, beside the window.
She thought for a moment before striding proudly towards the seat, letting the door slam behind her which caused the two large and giddy boys to jump at the bang.
Alora turned to the chiselled boy and tilted her head to the side. "Appreciated." She nodded at him before turning her gaze to the window.
"So... Aloha— how was your summer?" Asked the tight faced girl.
Alora simply ignored the teasing and stared directly at her with a smirk. "Pleasant, darling. Yours?"
She cowered away at the sharp undertone of her words, replying nevertheless. "G-good." She nodded frantically, playing with her fingers.
"Where's yew co'e fwom?" Asked one of the larger boys, whilst chewing a mouthful of chocolate frogs.
"Pardon?" Reiterated Alora, not being able to identify the boy's slurred jibber.
"Where did you transfer from?" Translated Blaise, curious about the girl.
"It's complicated." She replied plainly, looking back outside the window and noticing a darkness coating the sky.
"Did you guys go to the quidditch match?" Draco gushed, diverting the conversation away from Alora, as his father had wished. Unknowingly though, he set off a whole new excitement in Alora.
"No, we couldn't make it. My mother told me about the news though." Blaise told him.
As if on queue, a second-year walked by while holding the Daily Prophet.
"Oi!" Shouted Alora, loud enough for the boy to hear her. He turned around and faced their compartment with terror swarming his eyes. Alora noticed this and bathed in his cowardly aura.
"Can I see that paper?" She asked, nodding her head towards the parchment. He nodded quickly and handed it to her before stepping back into the hallway.
She eyed it for a moment before chucking it to Draco. "Bye then." She said plainly, shutting the door to the compartment when she was sure he wouldn't get injured.
"Brilliant." Blaise smiled.
Everyone praised her for her actions and spoke about the paper for half of the journey. The break they had was to change into their robes, which Parkinson -whom Alora now knew to be called Pansy- had to lend her a plain set. After their return, the two girls were left to wait for the boys to return. Small talk being conversed between them both.
Once the boys had returned, someone brought up an event that was happening at Hogwarts this upcoming year which drew her attention away from the nature outside.
"Are you going to enter Draco?" Pansy asked, "it's terribly dangerous."
"Maybe I might, I don't need any more of that sort of attention though." He stated proudly, plucking up his collar.
"Oh really?" Fired Blaise.
"Yes really Blaise, my Father has become rather acquainted with the Minister of Magic since his personal invitation to the World Cup. I hear he's coming round the manor for tea soon." Draco boasted to his friends.
The rest of the journey was mostly a blur. She had to admit that from the constant movement, she grew to feel rather tired but she would not fall asleep in an exposed area like this. That was too dangerous.
So when the train finally stopped, she found herself blending with the same group of Slytherins she had arrived at the station with.
Queuing for the carriages wasn't something Draco Malfoy fancied doing on his Saturday night. He would much rather be crowding in front of groups of muggle-borns and terrorising them for their status. Especially, Hermione Granger, he enjoyed gaslighting their trio.
Little did he know, Alora knew all about that and decided that she would try to interfere.
As Pansy began to ramble about her excitement for the Ministry's plans at Hogwarts, the group ahead of them seemed to be clueless about what was happening.
"Did your father and brother not tell you what was happening, Weasle-bee? My God! I've known for ages." He bragged.
"I suppose they're probably not ranked high enough for such classified information. My father is though, he heard it from Cornelius Fudge himself. Father is always associated with those at the top of the Ministry." Draco stated smugly, laughing with Crabbe, Goyle and Pansy.
"No one cares about your father, Malfoy." Spoke a voice Alora only recently became slightly familiar with. Harry Potter, of course she was going to run into him at this school.
Bloody pitiful.
"Is he always this irritable?" Alora asked Blaise while watching Harry Potter's group climb into the carriages.
Blaise nodded with a smirk. "Draco or Potter?"
"Both." Alora snorted making them both smile.
"How did you know Draco before the train?" He asked while letting Alora step into the carriage before him.
She shrugged. "Malfoy? I don't really. Our families were close." She said briefly.
He nodded.
"Were?" Inquired Parkinson, involving herself in their conversation.
"That is what I said, is it not?" She looked at everyone for confirmation, proving her to be right as they all nodded.
"I like you," she smirked, "now that we're best friends then, I present you with the gift of leading our group into the-"
"Pansy that's my thing, you can't just—" Draco argued.
"Hush." She shot in his direction, making both Crabbe and Goyle pump their chests out as a warning. This only made the girl roll her eyes.
"Alora, will you— screw that, you're going to make a dramatic entrance." She slapped Draco's knee when he was about to interrupt, which made Blaise chuckle.
Looking at Draco's pleading gaze, she smirked.
"I suppose I shall."
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This is kind of a filler chapter.
I can't wait to write the next chapter, I'm telling you now. It will be great!
Alora is so strong.
ʷᶜ; ²⁶²²
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Published: 6/04/22
April sixth, twenty twenty-two.