(1st October 1991)
The whispers of people in my dorm along with the rain slowly dancing down the windows from outside awoke me from my deep slumber. Yesterday's evening still played on repeat in my mind, mainly the words made by our Prefect.
"Let me be honest here because nobody else will, if any guy says he's interested in you: beyond just using you for fame and reputation is full of crap!" That's what he said.
Is that the only reason why people are interested in me and want to talk to me? Because I survived the killing curse and that I am somehow powerful? It would make so much sense though, Avery was interested in my scar when she first met me and so was Hermione. What if Fred only had that interaction with me at the train station because he knew I was the one that survived the killing curse?
" Okay no more day- dreaming! Time to wake up!" Cherry's high-pitched voice vociferated. Without giving me any time to react, she grabbed a hold of my feathered blanket and wrested it off my body.
" Cherry!" I bellowed at her. I quickly sat up in my bed and lunged at her and tried to get my blanket back. Cherry's eyes looked over my body and nodded in approval. I looked down at my pajamas and rolled my eyes. I was in a pair of blue velvety shorts and in a blue top to match, I grabbed my top and fixed it and looked back up at Cherry.
" Seriously?"
" What? Just saying you look -" Cherry stopped herself mid-sentence and took a double take at me. She pointed a finger at me before continuing. " Are those mine?"
" They might be." I tell her whilst I stood up from my bed and walked to the end of my bed where the trunk was.
" Whatever, you can keep them if you want it's up to you." She shrugs.
" If it's not too much trouble then yeah I'll have them, I didn't really bring much."
" What caused that outburst last night?" Lillian said when she entered the room from the bathroom. She walked in front of the mirror and adjusted her tie, she looked into the mirror and looked at me through it.
" Well, Professor Snape gave me a detention again." I informed her as I rummaged through the trunk for my uniform.
" Another one?" Tesha questioned in the far corner, she was sat crossed legged and fully dressed on her bed.
" What was the excuse this time?" Avery questioned me before walking over and sitting down on my bed.
" Apparently my work was not to his standards," I told them. I grabbed my uniform and Avery used her legs to close the trunk. Making my way to the bathroom, I opened the door and stepped inside and began to change.
" So, Percy was mad at you because?" Tesha asked as she made her way to the bathroom door. When I finished putting on my shirt, I swung the door open and walked back into the room with my tie undone around my neck. Making my way to the mirror, I began to do my tie.
" Because due to me Gryffindor has lost 40 points." I tell them.
" So, Seamus has made us loose around 50," Cherry tells me, she walks into the view of the mirror and stands beside me. She fixes my collar and turns around and grabs my cloak and passes it to me.
" Thanks Cherry." I quickly slip into the cloak and turn to the girls; they are waiting at the door for me. As we are walking down the staircase to the common room, Tesha swings her arm around my shoulders. She leaned into my side with a smile on her face.
" So, who you going to pick?" She whispers so only I can hear her.
" What do you mean?" I whisper back to her. We make our way to the bottom of the stair case and are welcomed by other students.
" You know darn well what I mean, Potter. So, who is it going to be? George, Fred or Oliver?" She yells in a whisper.
" What about them?" I ask her.
" Who are you going to get with? Which one do you want?" She says whilst raising her voice slightly. I roll my eyes and laugh as I cross my arms over my chest.
" Just because I want a man, doesn't mean I need one. Us women do perfectly fine without them I can ensure you," I tell her with a smile.
" I don't think they think that," she says as she nods to the right corner of the room. I follow her gaze and my eyes land on the three men our conversation just happens to be about. All three of them looking in our direction.
" I'm tough, I'm ambitious and independent, and I know exactly what I want in life. If that makes me annoying, then okay. At the end of the day, I am not the girl a man gets at the end of a movie, I am not a fantasy, if they want me, they better earn me." The sound of someone's footsteps makes the room become silent. I give Tesha a questioning looks before the both of us turn around. Standing there in the middle of the common room was Gryffindor's Prefect. He slowly turned around and looked me up and down.
" Found something interesting? If not keep your eyes up here" I warn him as I point to my face, in a way to show him that's the only place he can look at me. Percy then proceeds to look me in the eye and take a step towards me.
" Stay away from my sister!"
Harry's head popped up from behind one of the couches. He then points a finger at Percy. "I don't know what you have against her and I but we have done nothing wrong."
Percy shoots around and slightly tilts his head to the side and looks at Harry. " I don't think that is any of your business, Potter."
" I think you find it is. You always want to know what the both of us are doing, therefore it is our business." I inform him whilst making my way over to Harry.
" You see Percy, I just don't get it." I sat down next to Harry.
" Get what?" He asks.
" Why you are so interested in our lives!" I shout out, it was clearly obvious he knew what I meant
" I can promise you I have not such interest in your problematic life," Percy tells us bitterly.
" Really? Then why do you keep interfering with it? We never asked for a man by name of Voldemort to come along and tear our family apart! We didn't ask for him to kill our parents!" The room fills with gasps as I finish my sentence.
" What did you just say?" Percy asks coldly.
" I think you heard clearly what I just said. But if you would like, I could repeat it. You know, to maybe allow it to sink in." I coldly speak.
" I think we've heard enough from you, Potter! I think it's time that you start doing what you should've done all along, stay silent!" Percy demands. Slowly, I stand up from my seat and began to walk towards Percy.
" I am not going to stay silent. I have lived the majority of my life in the shadows and I will not allow that to continue. Especially to the hands of a man. I am no bird; and no net can
enslaves me: I am a free human being with an independent will. And most importantly, I will not stay silent so that you can be comfortable."
Percy stands in the middle of the room with his eyes glazed on the floor, his hands placed either side of him. If you look closely, you can see his hands shaking and sweat dripping down his head.
" Did I stutter, Prefect? Would you maybe like me to repeat that for you, or did you get the message?" I ask him.
Percy's eyes slowly removed their gaze from the floor and looked directly at me. Nonchalantly, he shook his head. It was clear he was trying to stay calm and act as if my previous words had no effect on him.
" I think we are done here," I address to him and others in the room.
" For once we agree," Percy says as he makes his way to the Common Room door and left without saying another word. Turning around, I bent down to Harry's level and brought him into a tight embrace.
" Thank you," he whispers into my ear.
" For what?"
" For speaking up, to be honest you've always been good at it." He tells me before pulling away.
" Like I said ' I've lived the majority of my life in the shadows and I will not allow that to continue' I am tired of people thinking they can tell me what to do."
I made my way to the door and pushed it open then turned to the rest of the Gryffindor house.
" Come on guys, let's go eat something. He won't be stopping us from eating."