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↱ in which
it's always the same pattern
DEMENTORS WERE supposed to make you feel fear. So why did she feel so horribly angry?
Maybe it was everything that happened that night. Watching a hippogriff get slaughtered and being indirectly called a selfish coward, it only fueled her fire.
Sometimes, Scarlett wanted that terrible feeling in her gut to claw her from the inside out.
Why was it that everyone around her could respond to situations normally, and she had to immediately resort to anger? Why did anger have to be the one emotion she could comfortably feel?
These thoughts only helped to make her angrier.
When she passed out, the Dementors made her see things. Horrible things.
Scarlett saw herself when she was younger and less angry at the world. When her bed at the Home was the only comfort she knew. She saw the first ones.
The first ones being the first people that adopted her. An insanely rich couple, disgusted by the state of that wretched orphanage (who wouldn't be?).
The woman was a pale lady who's entire personality was her husband. The man was the CEO of a large company, one that had began to decline. His public image had been slaughtered when word got out that the money from his 'charity event' didn't actually go to charity.
So naturally, the couple adopted a poor little girl who'd never seen her parents before as a way of showing that, 'yeah, they did do charity.'
Scarlett thought she was lucky that she'd get to have rich and famous parents. That was before they called her a devil spawn.
She'd got a bit too angry one day, it was her fourth night in a row being forced to some event. The woman would get her all dressed up, the only words spoken between them would be 'don't speak unless spoken to.'
The cameras would flash in her eyes and the journalists' pens would scribble down every word she said. But that night Scarlett accidentally said something she wasn't supposed to.
Her adoptive father pulled her aside. He screamed and shouted at her, wagged his finger in her face, told her what a mistake he made choosing her.
That night, all the cameras mysteriously exploded, the beautiful glass chandelier shattered to the floor, and Scarlett was shipped back to the Home.
The next thing she saw was not her past, but someone she'd never seen before.
It was a man. A burly man wearing a thick brown coat and sitting in a chair. Though he looked thoroughly disoriented. He had thin blond hair, and a scarred face. But the most distinct feature was his singular brown eye, while the other was covered by a fake blue eye that strapped around his head. The fake eye whizzed around in its socket before stopping to make eye contact with her.
Scarlett frantically looked down at herself to find she had no body at all. It was all fake, just another one of those visions she had. Which ultimately meant that (using her deductive thinking skills) there was a chance that it wouldn't be fake for long.
The man threw his head back and let out a horrible grunt of pain. He squirmed and writhed in his chair, and when he slowly lifted his head back up Scarlett was beyond terrified.
It wasn't the same man. He had greasy brunette hair and dark bags under his eyes and she would've been able to describe more if it wasn't for the searing pain in her abdomen.
"Merde! Shit!"
Scarlett snapped her eyes open. Thankfully, everything was all just another strange episode. Not so thankfully, she was still in pain.
She didn't even get time to take in her surroundings when the pain pulsed through her again.
"That should do it, and there won't even be a scar," Madam Pomfrey was hovering above her, which only made Scarlett realize she was probably laying in the Hospital Wing getting her wound tended too. The woman picked up a jar of some nasty smelling ointment, pulling her shirt back down, and walked away only to come back with the largest block of chocolate she'd ever seen.
Scarlett groaned, trying to sit up and ignoring the searing pain on her stomach and the splitting headache.
She sat up against the pillows tiredly, looking around. Everything was out of focus, her eyes were still blurry, and the pounding in her head didn't help much. So overall she felt pretty great.
"Potter, what do you think you're doing?" Madam Pomfrey said.
Scarlett finally noticed Harry in the bed next to her, putting his glasses back on and grabbing his wand.
"I need to see the headmaster," he said.
"Potter," Pomfrey soothed. "It's all right. They've got Black. He's locked away upstairs. The Dementors will be performing the kiss any moment now."
"WHAT?"
Scarlett flinched, running her hands through her hair. Finally she thought it would all be over. So what if she was being selfish? If she spent too much time caring about others she would lose control over her own well being.
On the other hand, Black was an innocent man. Peter Pettigrew was the real villain. Harry was almost able to be with his family, but it was about to be taken away from him.
Still, if saving a relative meant risking your life, she was leaving that to Harry. He didn't need her, all she did was sit there and yell at people. Besides, It wasn't like Black was her godfather.
Scarlett didn't notice Cornelius Fudge and Snape having a conversation outside the Hospital Wing until they barged in as soon as Harry shouted. He was out of his bed now, along with Hermione who was apparently in the bed next to him.
"Harry, Harry, what's this?" Fudge asked, looking agitated. "You should be in bed. Has he had any chocolate?"
"Minister, listen!" Harry said. "Sirius Black's innocent! Peter Pettigrew faked his own death! We saw him tonight! You can't let the Dementors do that thing to Sirius, he's -"
But Fudge was shaking his head with a small smile on his face.
"Harry, you're very confused, you've been through a dreadful ordeal, lie back down, now, we've got everything under control..."
"YOU HAVEN'T!" Harry yelled. "YOU'VE GOT THE WRONG MAN!"
Scarlett tuned out the conversation as soon as Harry started yelling. It only increased her pounding headache which made her think about pain which made the slash on her abdomen feel even worse. She only refocused when Dumbledore walked in.
"For heaven's sake!" Madam Pomfrey said hysterically. "Is this a hospital wing or not?
Headmaster, I must insist—"
"My apologies, Poppy, but I need a word with these three," Dumbledore said calmly. "I have just been talking to Sirius Black—"
"I suppose he's told you the same fairy tale he's planted in Potter's mind?" Snape spat. "Something about a rat, and Pettigrew being alive.
"That, indeed, is Black's story," Dumbledore confirmed, surveying Snape closely through his half-moon spectacles.
"And does my evidence count for nothing?" the professor snarled. "Peter Pettigrew was not in the Shrieking Shack, nor did I see any sign of him on the grounds."
"Well you were sleeping on that bed the whole time," Scarlett spoke up and couldn't help but let a smile peak through as she stared at Snape's infuriated expression. She could feel all the eyes turn to her and the room went quiet. Maybe they forgot she was there.
"Miss Toussaint, hold your tongue!"
"Now, Snape," Fudge said, startled, "the young lady is disturbed in her mind, we must make allowances—"
"I would like to speak to Harry, Scarlett, and Hermione alone," Dumbledore interrupted. "Cornelius, Severus, Poppy - please leave us."
"Headmaster!" Madam Pomfrey sputtered. "They need treatment, they need rest—"
"This cannot wait," Dumbledore said. "I must insist."
Madam Pomfrey pursed her lips and strode away into her office at the end of the ward, slamming the door behind her. Fudge consulted the large gold pocket watch dangling from his waistcoat.
"The Dementors should have arrived by now," he said. "I'll go and meet them. Dumbledore, I'll see you upstairs."
He crossed to the door and held it open for Snape, but Snape hadn't moved.
"You surely don't believe a word of Black's story?" Snape whispered, his eyes fixed on Dumbledore's face.
"I wish to speak to them alone," Dumbledore repeated.
Snape took a step toward Dumbledore.
"Sirius Black showed he was capable of murder at the age of sixteen," he breathed. "You haven't forgotten that, Headmaster? You haven't forgotten that he once tried to kill me?"
"My memory is as good as it ever was, Severus," Dumbledore said quietly.
Snape turned on his heel and marched through the door Fudge was still holding. It closed behind them, and Dumbledore turned to them. Harry and Hermione both burst into speech at the same
time, mostly trying to tell him about Black's innocence.
After the three of them going back and fourth, Scarlett realized she shouldn't even be there. Of course she shouldn't. Dumbledore had nothing to say to her, she had no part in the whole situation. She was a Slytherin surrounded by Gryffindors. But even when she was around other Slytherins, she still didn't feel like she belonged. Hell, she didn't even know if she was a pureblood.
She didn't even fit in with her own friends, and it wasn't even their fault.
The very worst part of it all, Scarlett knew she would never belong.
Dumbledore was about to leave now.
"I am going to lock you in. It is—" he consulted his watch, "five minutes to midnight. Miss
Granger, three turns should do it. Good luck."
"Good luck?" Harry repeated as the door closed behind Dumbledore. "Three turns? What's he talking about? What are we supposed to do?"
But Hermione was fumbling with the neck of her robes, pulling from beneath them a very long, very fine gold chain.
"Harry, come here," she said urgently. "Quick!"
Harry hadn't moved, he looked over at Scarlett, who was now out of bed and slipping on her dirty converse. "Are you—"
"I'm going back to my dorm," she nodded, quickly walking past them.
Scarlett wiped her eyes tiredly as she headed out of the room, opening the door and turning around to close it behind her. She knew banging her head against the door wouldn't help with her headache, but she did it anyway. Her entire body felt clouded with frustration and anger and it felt like she was suffocating.
When she turned around she opened her eyes just in time to not bump into somebody. When she checked to see who it was, she thought she was having another one of her crazy dreams because how?
The person she almost bumped into was Harry, standing next to Hermione and both of them looking out of breath.
"How did you..?" Scarlett trailed off, watching as they looked between each other and sputtered through a million excuses. "Never mind, I don't care."
She brushed past them but was stopped by a gentle hand on her shoulder.
"I haven't got the chance to talk to you after everything," Harry said carefully, Hermione had left his side and it was just him and Scarlett in the empty, candlelit corridor.
Scarlett hummed, shrugging his hand off her shoulder.
Harry wrung his hands together in the silence. "This sorta thing happens every year," he stated firmly.
She gulped, suddenly remembering all the times her friends had told her that same thing. Somehow, it always connected back to Harry Potter. That night only proved their point, the boy was dangerous.
"I've never..." felt so helpless she wanted to say, but that would make her look weak. She only looked up at Harry, her mouth felt dry and she could feel the dirt caking in her hair from crawling through that tunnel. "They warned me about you."
The atmosphere shifted. Harry narrowed his eyes at her defensively.
"They warned you?"
"They told me that being friends with you would put me in danger."
"That's hardly my fault!" Harry scoffed.
"Maybe it's not, but if 'this sorta thing' may happen again next year, I'll make sure to stay away," Scarlett retorted, putting all her anger into her words.
They stared at each other in a tense silence.
"They warned me about you too. Said I shouldn't trust a Slytherin," the boy spoke up, taking an unnoticeable step closer. "But I guess you finally got what you wanted."
"And what is that?" Scarlett snapped.
"To fit in! To be just like every other Slytherin and hate me! Isn't that what you wanted?"
"I wanted to be your friend!" Scarlett cried in frustration. "I ignored all of my friends warnings about you being this dangerous person, but I guess I should've listened."
"You're exactly like those snakes! I don't know why i thought you'd be different," Harry exhaled.
"You're right. I hate you, just like a Slytherin should."
There was a short moment of silence where she couldn't even hear her own heart beating. It felt like she was suffocating.
"Good. It's better this way," Harry concluded with one final glance at her, before trudging back into the Hospital Wing.
Scarlett didn't know what to think. Her head was spinning and her vision was fuzzy but the tightness in her chest grounded her. She dug her nails into her palm all the way down the staircase.
She'd know this was going to happen ever since that Hogsmeade trip. She'd naively let it slip her mind, but of course those same three words rang throughout the hallway and left a bitter taste on her tongue.
"Miss Toussaint," a voice said off to the side.
Just great, she was really feeling up for more conversation.
"Yes?" she sneered, mocking politeness as she stared at the grey haired man.
"I suspect you've been keeping something from me," Dumbledore got straight to the point, staring through his half moon glasses.
"Since when do I have to tell you anything about me?"
"Since you've been having visions of the future."
Scarlett audibly groaned, staring down at the crescent moon marks in her palm.
"I sense you were thinking of confiding in Professor Trelawney?" the headmaster asked, staring straight through her soul. She felt her head pounding just looking at the man.
"So?" she countered, feeling all her anger bubbling maliciously.
Dumbledore blinked for the first time in that conversation, recoiling just a bit. "Your gift is not at all similar to our dear Professor Trelawney's. Yours was handcrafted, sewn just for the likes of you. It can be dangerous."
Scarlett stayed silent with bated breath, twisting her rings anxiously. As much as she wanted to retract her fist and swing it at Dumbledore, she really wanted answers to the visions that had been plaguing her life ever since Martha and Reynold died.
They'd really started to take a toll on her, and even she noticed. It was proving very difficult to ignore the hushed voices whispering in her ears at all times. Her friends probably thought she was severely hard of hearing by then. And it definitely wasn't hard to miss the hollow of her cheeks and the darkness under her eyes.
Sometimes the voices of Martha and Reynold would flash through her mind. Those voices she knew weren't just from her 'gift.' They were the result of her grief.
She'd selfishly tried to push away the thought of them. The memories of Martha baking cookies with her and Reynold teaching her how to play the piano wouldn't hurt as much if she just ignored it. So she did, for herself and for the people around her. She knew if she got too emotional, she'd end up lashing out at someone.
Scarlett somehow always found a way to live up to her damned name.
Her eyes burned again, and her shoulders felt heavy again. Heavy like the weight she'd been able to drop off for a few months was ready to be carried again, only now she was weaker.
"I advise you don't go telling anyone," Dumbledore concluded, hands behind his back politely.
"Thanks," she mumbled, stepping to the side and continuing down the hall with slumped shoulders.
"SO, HE'S BEEN FIRED?" Daphne questioned.
"No, he resigned," Ariah corrected, shaking her head. "He was my favorite Dark Arts Professsor too."
Scarlett, Theo, Daphne, Blaise, and Ariah walked along the castle's lawn, discussing all the rumors spreading around.
It was only last night when Sirius supposedly escaped from the Dementors. Scarlett had no idea what had actually happened and she truly wasn't interested.
She hadn't seen Harry since the night at the Hospital wing and she was thoroughly glad. She thought she'd rip out her hair if she saw his face again.
"He's a werewolf. What if we got the answer wrong one day and he chomped our heads off?" Theo offered, showing his signature grin.
"I don't think that's how it works, Nott," Scarlett said, dusting a curl out of her face.
Theo plucked out one of her curls, pulling it and watching it bounce back in place with the rest of them, earning himself a punch to the gut.
"I think it's wicked," Blaise shrugged lightly. "Our professor was a werewolf! When do you ever get to say that sentence?"
"When do you ever want to say that sentence?" Ariah said.
They made their way back to the castle, noticing people around them doing the same, having just come back from Hogsmeade like them.
It was the last day of term. Everyone would be heading home the next day, but Scarlett didn't want to think about that. On a lighter note, she passed all her exams easily. Apparently, the French education system hadn't failed her.
"This is our last dinner together as third years," Daphne cooed, laying her head dramatically on Scarlett shoulder only to switch to Ariah's after being shrugged off.
"Our last dinner and we'll have to listen to those loud Gryffindors because they're gonna win the House Cup," Theo rolled his eyes, a sour look on his face.
For once, Scarlett could understand why he didn't particularly like Gryffindors.
Theo was right, they had to endure all the red and gold decorations and the Gryffindor table being reckless throughout the entire dinner. Scarlett enjoyed her time nonetheless.
"By the way..." Daphne swallowed her food. "Who's going to that Quidditch Cup? My parents are forcing me to go."
"I am," Theo said, but he didn't seem as excited as he should be about it.
"My mum's husband is taking us," Blaise grinned.
"I'm going with my father," Ariah explained.
The rest of them looked expectantly at Scarlett.
"Oh..." she mumbled. Reynold was never that much into Quidditch, Martha on the other hand always had the Sunday game on. The knowledge was useless now that they were dead. "I don't have tickets."
"I can get you in!" Theo sparked up immediately, staring at Scarlett as if his life depended on her answer. He leaned back quickly, running a hand through his fluffy brunette hair and repeating himself calmly, "Er- my parents have connections with the ministry. You could come with us."
The idea of traveling alone with her friend and his parents seemed almost scarier than her werewolf teacher. She wasn't good with parents, considering she didn't have any. The sheer thought of having to converse with his parents made her want to drop dead. But she looked around at all her friend's expectant faces. She internally sighed.
"Uhm," Scarlett gulped. "If your parents are alright with it, I guess."
The group erupted in grins and cheers, Theo's was possibly the brightest.
THE PROSPECT OF leaving Hogwarts and having to go back and rot in that horrible orphanage had finally dawned on Scarlett. She would miss her friends dearly.
She knew things would change once she got back to the Home. She knew everyone there would be older, including Atticus who she hadn't thought about in so long. She would never admit that she sort of missed him, but she did. The biggest change would be her move from the younger ward to the older ward.
Scarlett had been in the Home since she was a year old. All she knew was the younger ward, Sue Harper, and the neglect she'd been put through. There were more kids in the younger ward, maybe about 15. Older kids were rare in the Home, and the ones that were there (maybe 5 of them) she never saw. Apart from the occasional thud from a floor above, she mostly forgot they were there.
As the train pulled into the station, Daphne was already in tears.
"She does this every year," Ariah smiled softly, but her voice had a twinge of sadness.
Scarlett hauled her trunk off the train and the group stood in a circle while everyone else around them hugged and said their goodbyes.
"I wonder what will happen next year. Murderer this year, killer snake the last year, I'm sensing a pattern," Blaise said but despite his horrible words he had a wide grin on his face. "See you guys."
Daphne pulled Scarlett into a bone crushing hug, tears staining her shirt slightly but it was okay since it was one of her best friends. She tensed slightly in the blonde's embrace, patting her back awkwardly.
"I'll miss you, Scar," Daphne sniffled, and she reminded Scarlett of another blonde friend she once had.
"I think I'll miss you more, Daph," she responded, wiggling out of her grip with a smile.
Ariah came up to her with a tight lipped smile, squeezing Scarlett into a side hug that soon turned into a full one. "I know you don't like hugs but I'm gonna miss you."
"Me too Ariah."
It was just her and Theo left, who was looking at her weirdly. He looked like he was about to say something when a head of bushy brown hair walked passed him.
"I'll be back," Scarlett promised, rushing to get Hermione's attention. She set a hand on her shoulder gently.
"Scarlett!" Hermione looked surprised, excited, and a little nervous. She wondered if Harry had told her about their... fight.
"Just wanted to say goodbye," Scarlett hesitated, not knowing if the brunette girl was going to lash out at her or something.
Hermione's eyes softened ever so slightly and Scarlett received another unwanted (but not unappreciated) hug.
"You know you're one of the only girl friends I have," Hermione whispered softly, before pulling apart.
Scarlett only smiled, "I'll miss you," she said.
"Leaving?" a third person entered the conversation. The tall, freckle-faced ginger.
"Yep," she said to Ron and he had a boyish grin plastered on his face as always. She never would've guessed she could make that many friends her first year at Hogwarts. They were the best thing that'd ever happened to her.
"Will you be at the Quidditch World Cup?" Ron asked.
"So far, yes. I'll see you guys there?"
The both of them nodded eagerly but their smiles immediately dropped along with Scarlett's.
When Harry joined the group, the lightheartedness of the conversation died. A wall of tension replaced it.
Scarlett never would've guessed a few days ago that Harry Potter's face would bring her this much anger.
Harry stared at her between his two friends, his face relaxed but his forest green eyes swam with a multitude of emotions that all circled back to anger. Scarlett couldn't believe how much he'd changed to her. It was like he became a brand new person after their argument, a more hate-able person which made actually hating him way easier.
The way he looked at her was the complete opposite of the way he looked at her only days ago. Scarlett was glad.
She suddenly felt a presence behind her and watched Harry's hateful eyes glance somewhere above her.
"C'mon, Scar. You can say hello to my parents."
Scarlett let Theo drag her away from Harry this time.
it took me an embarrassingly long amount of time to finish
18 chapters but hey we
made it
thank you for the support now onto act 2