Birds chirp as I sit by the lake, writing down in my notebook. It's a hot July day, and I wasn't about to spend it indoors. I try to get outside as much as possible, and today is absolutely perfect.
Usually, I seldom like to be at home. The little house on top of a hill isn't my home. Hogwarts is my home. I smile, thinking about that place and how I'm already a sixth year and don't have a lot of time left there. When I was eleven, I got a letter saying that I was special - that I was a witch. It was shocking to my parents, but my mom at least accepted it. My dad, not so much.
My dad was a traditional type of man. He wanted the perfect son. But he got me, a daughter. He didn't want a daughter, and all the times I tried to be a daddy's girl, it was impossible. I always thought he hated me, but that elevated when I got a letter to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He was furious, so furious that he actually left. I don't know where he is now, but I have a feeling he has a new family and a new life without me. I guess I can never really be good enough.
When I got to Hogwarts, I was sorted into Gryffindor house. I made friends with a unique girl whose name is Arabella. She's just about the only friend I have there. People don't seem to like me as much as I hoped they would when I was young and naive. But that's okay. Now I know that one friend is really all I need to be happy. Happiness is defined by the amount of friends you have.
Although others, like Rose Weasley and that Malfoy kid will beg to differ. They think they run the school. In all honesty, that red haired girl and idiotic Malfoy are not worth anyone's time. They're not worth oxygen if you ask me. Rose has always bullied me, calling me freak and loner ever since she met me on the first day of first year. But they are no longer in Hogwarts, for they graduated. There's only one Weasley left there. Hugo. I can't stand him with his curly, dark brown, long hair and beautiful ocean blue eyes that I find myself dreaming about.
I shake my head. No. I'm not going to think about him like that. He isn't the nicest to me, as wasn't his sister. Though you wouldn't think they're related because they look absolutely nothing alike.
I'm glad I'm turning seventeen in August. I can't wait to be able to use magic outside of school. I've been counting down the days since I got my vinewood wand with dragon heartstring from Ollivander's about six years ago. Now, my wand sits on my dresser. I have no use for it at home since my whole family are muggles.
"Darcy?"
I turn, my long, curly locks blocking my vision. I reach up and pull my hair out of my face only to see my mother standing at the top of the hill waving to me. "Mum?" I called.
She says something that I can't quite hear. The distance from the house to the lake is quite large. I squint my eyes and point to my ear. "I can't hear you!" I yell. "You need to speak louder!"
She says it again, and yet I still hear nothing. I sigh loudly and start to stand up, only to realize that my foot is caught in something that feels like a vine. I got up too quickly, so I scream and the next thing I know, I'm underwater.
I fall, tumble.
I'm drowning.
I wish I knew how to swim.
I fight and fight for the surface, for a breath of air, only to be denied access. The vine my foot got caught it is wrapped around pretty tightly and I can't seem to be able to cut it loose.
I scream, but all that comes out is bubbles. My lungs are on fire. All I know is I need air and I need it now or I'm going to die. I can't die - I haven't even lived yet.
My eyes are drooping shut. The blue of the water starts to blur and becomes replaced with black. My flails start to fail and I feel my body going weak, going limp.
~
Air fills my lungs and I wake in a coughing fit, hacking water in every direction. When I catch my breath, I have to blink a few times to refocus my eyes. Where am I? Did I drown? Is this Heaven?
I look around, squinting from the bright light.
"You okay?"
A figure comes into view above me. The voice is male. He's leaning over me, his curls hair wet and falling over his eyes. Those eyes. I know those eyes.
Hugo.
Hugo Weasley just saved my life.
"H-Hugo?" My voice is hoarse and I don't even recognize it as my own.
He smiles with those straight teeth of his and my heart skips a beat. I mentally slap myself for it. I never want to think any of those things about a Weasley, not after the way those people treated me.
At least now I know I'm not dead and that I am, in fact, alive.
But where did Hugo come from?
"How-how did you get here?" I ask, propping myself up on my elbows so I can see him as opposed to the sun and his silhouette.
He pointed behind him. "My family and I live next door," he said it as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. How am I supposed to know that? I only spoke four sentences to the guy since I met him when I was a third year and he was a fourth.
That's probably the worst news anyone could ever share with me. That means Rose lives there too and because Malfoy the monkey is attached to her at the hip, he'll be here a lot too.
"Good thing too," he continued, brushing his hair out of face. Now I see that he's fully clothed and that he jumped into the lake in his clothes. But why? "Because if I didn't come, I think you'd be dead."
I sniffle and look away from him only to see my mother running down the hill at light speed. "You'd want that, wouldn't you? After what you said to me when I was a third year?" My tone is harsh, mean. But I don't care. He doesn't deserve my forgiveness. Not after what he said to me.
I remember it like it was yesterday because it still haunts me to this day.
Walking down the hall with my books clutched to my chest, I push my glasses up my nose. I want contacts, I don't want glasses anymore. I hate them. No one likes me because of them. Lost in thought, I didn't see a young boy stick his foot out. I trip and fall. My glasses fly off my face and skid down the hall of Hogwarts and my books fall from my hands.
I feel around the floor, my vision blurry without my glasses.
"Looking for these, four eyes?"
I look up to where I heard the male voice, but I can only see a blur. I recognize the voice though. Hugo Weasley. He's a year ahead of me. Everyone here at Hogwarts knows who he is. He has that famous last name.
"Give me those," I say, though my voice isn't very threatening due to its adolescent squeaky qualities.
"Uh, how about no?"
I pout and he and his friends laugh.
"I can't see without them."
"I wish I couldn't see right now so I wouldn't have to look at your ugly face."
That's when the tears come.
I back away from him and stand up, wanting him to leave more than anything else in the world right now.
"What?" is all he says.
I fold my arms over my chest.
"You can't be talking about when I called you four eyes and ugly? Wow, I was, like, fourteen. Build a bridge and get over it." And with that, he walks away, shaking the water out of his thick, curly her he inherited from his mother.
I blink back the tears and the next second, my mom is at my side, freaking out and asking a million questions about my health and safety. I tell her I'm fine and that I just want to go to my room and change into my warm pajamas.
So that's what I do. As I walk back to the house, I can't help but look back at Hugo's fading figure.
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