Disclaimer: No I don't own Harry Potter etc. J K Rowling does. Elianne is my own character though. And the poetry is definitely mine, and only mine.
Author's Note: this is the sequel to one of my other Harry Potter fanfics, 'fathers daughter', you are HIGHLY advised to read that before this, otherwise the following wont make one bit of sense.
Chapter 2
"Shadows In The Dark"
~
Smile on the upside
Smile on the down
You can get on around without that frown
Smile on the upside
Smile on the down
Maybe just maybe they won't see you drown
Making it easy;
For everyone else
Don't want it to be hard
When it doesn't have to be
Making it easy
At my expense
But that's nothing;
Compared to why I have to do it
Walking into town
Like nothing's ever changed
Shopping in the shops, waving goodbye
Singing in the mind
Why oh why
Walking into town
I don't understand
I can put up my mask
Leaning high above,
But as it slips I see
In my mirror, the face that torments
And the rivers
And then I wonder, from the depths the thought hid in
Why did this happen, why to me?
Then I can only walk, shyly into town
Then I can only smile, there's no option for otherwise
Life suddenly made harder than before, the flashing pictures of the scenes I ignored
~
##Elianne##
I approached the platform nearly shamefully. My father and Ginny stood behind me. All eyes were turned to us, the spectacle, the wonder. I think they all lost their sense of humility and empathy as they started to watch the celebrity we supposedly were.
Did they even remember what had happened to us as they committed themselves to gawping blankly to themselves? Whispering tales and gossiping of possibilities.
Did they remember she was dead, what we'd been through, how he felt standing there like in the past, more vulnerable this time because they knew everything that was to be about him.
I gave my father a quick peck on the cheek and he looked up soulfully, nodding a goodbye. And I hugged my godmother briefly as she shed a tiny tear at leaving me.
Ginny had stayed in our house from that faint moment dad had come back wracked in grief from his visit.
She looked after us for the few days between then and now. My father had holed himself up in his room, Hermione's old bedroom; much like I had done the whole summer with myself into my own room as my little world.
I realised then how disconcerting it was to have someone act like that. He'd been handling it all admirably until the press had got to him. He'd held up to everything before them, with a cold wall to every single problem and covering himself in what had to be done to get through every day. I know why it was like that now. He did those things every day merely to get through the day, with those stupid menial things being the only responsibility he could hold onto to steady his weak form from breaking. And then he had shattered.
Ginny had provided for me, helped me pack and done everything my father would have done. Whilst he stayed there, happy in misery atleast.
The crowds of parents at the station made things simply worse. I crept away, soft wave to the two new guardians of mine, hoping they'd leave faster because I went off earlier. Hoping to save them further pain of the focus onto their bodies by the ignorant masses wanting only to say they'd bore witness to Harry Potter.
And I got on the train ready to brave them all. The questions, the stares, the accusations. Whatever was coming.
Patricia Parkinson provided the first.
"Nice little cosy twosome out there, Elle."
She called me by my mock pet name as she tried unsuccessfully to imply something about the relationship between Harry and Ginny.
I walked away from her, too fed up to bother with a retort. The sheer daringness of my not saying anything was enough to annoy the girl beyond doubt.
"Hey! Potter, where do you think you're going? Come back here. You can't walk away from me! I'm a Parkinson!"
The stupidity of her egotism made me want to pity her for a second or two, but then I remembered she'd chosen to be like that. She'd chosen the cursed surname proudly and the mentality just the same. Patricia had no excuse to the heritage she took claim of; she'd adopted it after all.
And I smiled more sardonically as she cried out in near desperation that someone wouldn't cry, let alone say a thing to one of her insults. I flitted back a glance, seeing flaming indignation of 'fatty patty's' face. We called her that despite her apparent thinness, just to infuriate her. I attributed that viciously addictive nickname to Lucretia's still evident cruel humour that was the Malfoy streak in her.
I found the carriage to the left and middle of the train and sat down in it next to my dearest friends. They'd all gathered together rather more earnestly this year. Inside sat Dido and Flora, accompanied opposite her by Leander. Then there was Cassy, who was rather noticeably different this year. She and Lucretia sat side by side, though she was ignoring Luce completely in favour of entertaining Leander. Flora had chosen to ignore this unashamed flirting, instead talked vehemently to Dido. Who in turn sat quietly taking in the peculiar panorama afore her.
I sat down next to Flora, wondering what had happened over the summer. Lucretia opposite me motioned we go outside, but before we could reach for the door, a tall brown-haired Ravenclaw prefect entered the compartment.
He looked accusingly towards Flora.
"Sis, where did you send Tryr? He hasn't come back yet. You said he'd be back in an hour."
The boy folded his arms accusingly.
Flora looked up to her brother's angry glare and a sweetly pure smile came from her lips as she cajoled him.
"Eric, don't worry, he'll be back. I don't know why he's late; maybe they took so long with their reply. Anyhow he's a tough owl and more than capable to flying up to Hogwarts with ease."
The slim young man lessened his tense shoulders at her statement and muttered a "You'd better hope so."
He made for the door, as did Flora and me.
Yet Cassy called out to him, "Eric, come join us. I'd love to find out more about you."
With that Eric silently agreed, at the notice of Cassy's honeyed looks, her hair prettily pulled back in a style reminiscent of the Russian Anastasia.
Within minutes she'd dug into him, taking over the conversation in the room.
"So how come we never heard about your cute elder brother before, Flora?"
Flora scowled at Cassy's indecent flattery of her seventh year sibling.
"He was quite busy with quidditch I'm sure and we were all settling in. Besides I'd to a certain extent like to not be in the shadow of my other brothers and sisters thank you very much." She pouted grudgingly at the end of her spurt.
Eric sat uncomfortably at this between Cassy and Lucretia, under scrutiny equally of his sister too.
I thought perhaps the atmosphere couldn't get more sour, except that Harriet and Georgia entered, the two slytherins followed by another - the bitter looking Patricia.
Georgia scathingly looked over Lucretia and then myself, ignoring all others.
"Seen the papers yet Potter?"
I flagged my sight down to the one she'd slammed onto the table. The grotesque headline read "The Potter legacy, full of Riddles".
I read it blindly, hoping it didn't mean what I thought it did.
If they knew, if they knew what I came from…
Harriet spoke first "I guess the truth comes out eventually and eventually everyone gets what's coming to them."
Georgia bit in, adding in a sly manner, "We know what you are now. The question is which one of them do you take after?"
From all they saw Elianne Potter simmered slowly in her seat.
"I see you're deductive reasoning is sharpened this year, perhaps that's why you wanted to switch to Ravenclaw. Or atleast that's your excuse instead of the one where you can't cut it with the rest of the snakes." She addressed this to a more meek Harriet.
Georgia's face paled at the blatant insult to her friend and the implication that anyone would want to leave slytherin.
"Where did you hear that?" asked a nervous Harriet.
Georgia's face spun in emotion at the request, disbelieving.
Elianne switched to the second girl, watching the conflict evident in her expression.
She added insult to injury, to top off the poor girls position.
"What didn't the dungeons agree with your complexion? I would have thought you'd be at home with the gorgonesque statues, after all you could nearly be mistaken for Medusa's sister practically."
No further comments came from anyone in the coach at the time. The air felt cool and cutting, a painful static in it with the sound of Elianne's innocent tone of voice.
Harriet wasn't known for being the most agreeable looking female in the school, not having blossomed into who she'd hoped despite now being in sixth year, which was why she'd been nearly disowned by snobby housemates in her own year. But Elianne's comment and stark glare following it had pushed her over to despair and she fled the room with the other slytherin girls who hastily attempted to comfort her.
For one moment I'd scared myself, acting in a manner more suited to my mother, I could see it in the wary glances from Dido and Flora, in them there lay fear.
In amongst the awkward scene Cassy's odd laughter came in bursts as she gasped, "El, wow! You're acting like the supped up Luce from last year, when she went Malfoy psycho on us. Bravo!"
Lucretia sat confused by it all, not least the opposite response of Cassandra's to the bitchiness Elianne had emitted.
It was understandable perhaps that she'd go over the top when confronted by those who'd taunt her about something that sensitive, yet Cassy's reaction unnerved them all.
Once more Lucretia made a shaded figure for them to meet outside.
+++
Away from the doors, we stood. She ignored the prior scene and started on about Cassy.
"She went to her cousin's in the summer and when I met her a week ago she was just like this. I don't know why."
I buzzed over what was wrong with that.
"But she didn't have any cousins!"
Lucretia glanced back to the carriage checking on the status of it.
"I know, was some second cousin or something. Related to her by Snape heritage."
"How does she know about that? We never told her."
"I know but she still found out somehow and something happened to her in the holidays. I just don't know what."
We settled on this, not really knowing any explanations for why or how it could be that she'd changed so much psychologically. It was like she'd grown an ego boost, confidence in overdrive and acute awareness of it too.
We both nodded and returned to the carriage, not speaking of anything abnormal the whole journey to school.
+++
The hall once again filled full with new students and old alike.
I felt happy not to be up there this year.
Attention wasn't what I wanted. I had enough in glowers from the slytherin table, the half that liked Harriet that was. The other attention came in sickly spiteful smiles of thanks from the upper peers that were the select elite in that house.
I frowned at myself for giving into to such cruelties. I should have kept my mouth shut. Life could well be hell for those who crossed slytherins, and the thanks the snobs had for me would not extend to any protection from pranks from the lower years.
One first year in particular had gotten a lot of looks from the school. Tertia Morley. A small dusty blonde girl who was several years below the usual admission age to Hogwarts. The school had made special allowances, it appeared she was worth it or they wouldn't have taken her on as one of the youngest witches they'd ever had. She had been placed rather predictably into Ravenclaw, as she was a half-cousin to Lucretia and who regardless of being on the Parkinson side still had the same keen mind and wit. This had annoyed Lucretia immensely, due to her little cousins constant queries since sitting down at the table next to her relative.
I sneaked a looked up to the head table, where a black-haired woman stared down at me from. Her eyes ogled me, intensely concentrated on my skull. She creeped me out and I wondered why she insisted on doing that. I didn't have the faintest clue as to why she'd want to except to gain some reputation equivalent to Professor Snape's. And if she wanted that then why pick on me?
I went back to eating my food. Wondering what the new DADA teacher wanted from me. She'd been presented as Professor Laudant, Sysalsia Laudant, who had something of a birdiness to her. It was the only way of describing her joint behaviour of twitchiness and crowing over others, back bent badly in a purely protective hunch. She was selected due to the unfortunate disembowelment of our last Professor in that subject during his holidaying in Siberia where he'd met his end with a nasty cave troll.
Another new introduction to our school staff was Draco Malfoy, who poured over the students in a manner much like the absent Professor Snape. He was the new charms professor and security advisor to the school, though I was one of few who knew that last fact - courtesy and secreted by Lucretia. Another appointment due to the ruin of the previous professor, the previous one had been subject to the misfortune of the invading Khaeodrics when the school had been breached last spring.
Lucretia had assured me, as Draco had assured the governors of the school, that his new combination wards were unsusceptible to every kind of attack possible to them. Nothing could now get into Hogwarts that wasn't wanted.
I watched up and down the gryffindor table, smiling encouragingly to the newbies who sat looking unsure mostly.
Lucretia too sat silently at her table, Ravenclaw. I gave her a quick glance and pointed towards Cassy, who'd begun another unseemly conquest.
This time of a sixth year newly appointed gryffindor prefect who was trying his best to avoid her charms. He reminded me slightly of my uncle Percy. Which was why Cassy's bizarre choice was amusing, doubled with the fact that he was restraining himself considerably from saying or doing anything dishonourable and that in itself was a display. She'd repeatedly announced what a fine family he was from… much to his gushing embarrassment as she close to paraded him in front of the jealous females who hadn't the nerve to strike up a conversation with him or risk interrupting Cassy at work.
Apart from the fuss on the train and the gossip around school, I felt the first day at school hadn't been too bad.
There was my outburst of not-quite-so unsolicited anger; there was the question of Cassy, what was going on with her and even my general problems of the rumours. Yet these things lightened my mood considerably, took my larger problem of grief off my shoulders and away from my conscious mind.
And despite such beginnings I doubted the year would be uneventful, even without them. Even if we solved Cassandra's quandary and the scandal died down, even then there'd just be something else to fill that place like always. Atleast these problems were handle-able.
It could've been much worse a day. And tomorrow would be new.
Still I think I'd spoken too soon when I said that. Because if things can get worse they usually do…
~