Chapter 24: Child Of Grace - Child Of Hope (Part 3)
ZeldaQueen: Ah yes, I'm sure you all were curious, I ran Holly through a couple of Mary Sue Litmus Tests after her second year. For this one, she got 102. For this one, she got 221. On both of those tests, that amounts to "kill it dead". It seems that unlike wine, Holly does not get better with age
Link: Can we get on with it?
Projection Room Voices: Starting Media in 3...2...1...
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Child Of Hope (Part 3)
The next day was one of the most trying in Holly Potter's short life, and it only led to one of the most difficult weeks.
ZeldaQueen: Even though she has twice as many close friends as Harry did and had it well within her means to go elsewhere
She woke up rather rested just after dawn with Tom nowhere in sight. This, however, didn't surprise her in the slightest since she knew that he needed to return to the diary for several hours of hibernation each day. It wasn't truly sleep, but that was the closest term they could come up for it.
Link: So, would I be correct in assuming that the suethor will take canon's humor and replacing it with wangst?
ZeldaQueen: That you would
After making sure he was in fact in his diary, Holly changed out of her clothes from the day previous, which had been slept in, and headed off to take a quick shower.
ZeldaQueen: Why thank you, suethor, I really was curious about that
Link: I love how the suethor felt the need to remind us that the clothes had been slept in, even though we're specifically told in the last scene how dear little Holly was too tired to change her clothes
Approximately a half-hour later, she was washed, dressed in her Petunia cast-offs instead of her nice things,
Link: I thought the Dursleys didn't let her have nice things
and already downstairs making breakfast. The girl had a plan to get her Hogsmeade form signed, and she might as well ingratiate herself with the Dursleys a bit along the way.
ZeldaQueen: *rubs head* Really, suethor? You're really going to try to follow this canon detail? Even though you're trying to get us to believe that the Dursleys treat Holly like a servant and Dudley tries to rape her, there's any possibility of them letting her have something fun? Either they're horribly evil or not!
From what she had learned from Vernon's thoughts the day before, Marge believed that she attended St. Brutus' Secure Centre for Incurably Criminal Children. With this in mind, it would be ridiculously easy to threaten the Dursleys into signing, lest she let the truth slip.
Link: Ah yes, nothing like blackmail in the morning
ZeldaQueen: Oh, and folks? That detail about the Dursleys being terrified about Marge finding out the truth about Holly? Please keep this in mind for later
Thankfully, her scheme worked well enough, and after several threats, Vernon was sufficiently cowed into agreeing if Holly behaved. The Slytherin couldn't help but smile to herself as she put away the dishes, sufficiently pleased.
Link: Yeah, I agree. Are the Dursleys supposed to be horrible or not? The suethor keeps switching between making Holly a poor little victim of their terrible ways and being a devious bitch who can "cow" them into giving her what she wants
Unfortunately, her good mood didn't last long since soon enough the doorbell rang, and she was forced into the entranceway by Petunia. Holly opened the door, only to be unceremoniously shoved to the side as Marge rushed in to find her nephew. The enormous woman, who looked like Vernon but with a less bushy moustache, threw her travel case into Holly's arms, knocking the small girl to the ground. Marge, however, didn't seem to notice. She was too preoccupied with greeting her nephew, read squeezing his blubbery body, and trying to keep her crotchety dog, Ripper, from biting him at the same time.
ZeldaQueen: (Suethor) "Hmm, how could I take this canon bit and make it as angsty as possible?"
Link: Wait, what just happened? It went by so fast, I think I got whiplash
A round of greetings later, the Dursley family trooped into the parlour, ignoring Holly, who was still struggling to her feet. The Slytherin merely growled at this and finally managed to stand, then proceeding to heave the gigantic bag upstairs and into the guest room.
Link: Poor, poor you
ZeldaQueen: Yeah, why's she so pissy? You'd think she'd be glad that they aren't baiting and hitting her
Such behaviour was repeated when she came back downstairs with Marge actually telling Holly that she should have been left at the orphanage. It was only thought of the Hogsmeade form that kept the girl from talking back, and the Snape-like sneer the Slytherin wore for the rest of the day made Marge rather uneasy and kept her from further comment.
ZeldaQueen: This is just...I...oh my head...
Link: If you keep smacking your forehead like that, you're going to hurt something
ZeldaQueen: I DON'T CARE! This...this just doesn't make sense! The suethor can't decide what she's doing! And if Marge is sooooo evil, how could she be shut up and scared by the sneering of a skinny little girl? SUE! *drinks*
In true Marjorie Dursley fashion, similar comments remained the standard for the rest of the week she was staying. On one memorable occasion over lunch the third day, the rotund woman even commented that Vernon and Petunia were not to blame for how their freakish niece had turned out.
Link: My, this is just chugging along here
As Marge put it, "It's one of the basic rules of breeding. You see it all the time with dogs. If there's something wrong with the bitch, there'll be something wrong with the pup."
ZeldaQueen: Oh, there's something wrong with the bitch alright
By that point, Holly was shaking with ill-suppressed rage. As such, she had quite the time reining in her magic, which kept threatening to burst forth.
Link: Wow, the Rose Potter flashbacks are coming on something fierce!
She did manage to keep most of it in check but apparently not enough as large cracks formed on Marge's wine glass. Thankfully, Petunia shooed the girl away afterwards, or there was no telling what she might have done.
ZeldaQueen: First of all, way to outdo canon, suethor. Look at how much better Holly is! She only cracked the glass! That loser Harry actually broke it into pieces! Isn't the Sue so much better?
Second of all, take careful note of that second sentence. That one that shows that Petunia would rather keep her niece out of sight than risk Marge finding out that she's a bitch witch
Looking back on it, Holly wasn't exactly sure how she managed to get through the next few days, though she suspected it was due in large part to Tom and her constant focus on him. She was doubly confounded when she factored in her Mind Magic, which had started to go haywire after the incident with the wine glass. It wasn't that Holly was losing control, as her telepathy seemed fine enough; it was more like her other abilities seemed to take on a will of their own. Or perhaps it was that her brain simply didn't feel like being caged anymore, as if the thing needed to keep it in check was no longer there. Even Tom's calming if cynical presence wasn't enough to keep them at bay.
ZeldaQueen: She's...she's ripping off Mathilda, that's what she's doing. Seriously. Ridiculously abusive family? School friends who love her? Token evil teacher who makes life hell for her? Built up mental energy that lets her move and break things?
Link: *calmly steps behind sofa*
ZeldaQueen: Well.
BITCH, YOU DID NOT! YOU DID NOT JUST COPY A CLASSIC PIECE OF CHILDREN'S LITERATURE AND BASTARDIZE IT WITH A MARY SUE AND TRY TO PASS IT OFF AS WORKING IN THE REALM OF HARRY POTTER!
Link: *sits back down on sofa*
ZeldaQueen: *fumes and drinks*
Before that week, Holly had indeed moved things with her thoughts, the most notable being the spell she had deflected at Lockhart and when she had shoved Dudley to the ground. Nevertheless, the Slytherin had only just begun to consider the possibility that she was a telekinetic, but during Marge's stay, it became readily apparent she was one.
Link: Great, like she didn't have enough non-canon powers already
ZeldaQueen: Did it ever enter her thick skull that she was just wandlessly performing regular magic? There are spells that let one move things around and break stuff!!!
Link: Nah, that isn't sufficiently special
To this, it wasn't unusual for things to suddenly start moving on their own without anyone visibly touching them. Nor was it odd for things to shake all but imperceptibly when she was feeling particularly emotional.
ZeldaQueen: *screams incomprehensibly at the screen*
Link: Oh no. Stop that right now!
ZeldaQueen: What?
Link: You are not. You are not going to get yourself so worked up that the folks in the Projection Room have you sedated, leaving me to spork this alone! You are not!
ZeldaQueen: Fine!
Luckily, it hadn't happened in front of the Dursleys yet, and Holly put that to the fact she had been practicing control. However, when she was alone or when just Tom was with her, Holly's abilities seemed to take that as the go ahead to misbehave. It was doubly fortunate that it seemed the Ministry did not or couldnot track telekinesis, despite whatever extra wards were layered on Privet Drive, as she had not received a single warning for her magic.
Link: *groans* Oh, fantastic! She's found a way to bully people without being caught! This bodes ill
Holly's trials and tribulations aside, the final day of Marge's stay came with much praise to the Maker on the Slytherin's part.
ZeldaQueen: Shut up about this "Maker" business *drinks*
That evening, they made it all the way through supper and to desert without a single mention of the girl or her faults. They were just finishing up with Dudley on his fourth slice of pie, Petunia drinking coffee, and Vernon and Marge consuming large amounts of brandy when the hefty woman decided to take up her favourite topic: Holly bashing.
Link: I don't think the term "bashing" is used in Harry Potter, at least not in that context
ZeldaQueen: Why does the suethor feel the need to make it so blatant? Does she think we won't notice if she doesn't point it out?
Marge let out a rich burp, patting her huge stomach. "Pardon me, but I do like to see a healthy-sized boy." She smiled at Dudley… or more like in his direction as she was too intoxicated for her eyes to completely focus. "You'll be a proper-sized man, Dudders, like your father." She held out her empty glass. " I'll have a spot more brandy, Vernon. Now, this one here." She jerked her hand toward Holly, a hard and dangerous look on her piggy face. The woman sneered.
Both: STOP WITH THE SNEERING!
But Holly had received worse ones from Professor Snape, so she wasn't intimidated in the least.
ZeldaQueen: *rolls eyes*
Link: *snorts and drinks*
"This one's got a mean, runty look to her. You get that with dogs. I had Colonel Fubster drown one last year." She eyed Holly, trying to focus her vision and actually succeeding. Marge took in the girl's slight appearance and lack of height. "Ratty little thing it was. Weak. Underbred."
Link: Hey, you want to drown the Sue? I'm all for it
Holly felt a tingle of forewarning, and her gaze darted to Petunia, pleading for her to be excused. But the horsy-faced woman was feeling particularly vindictive at the moment and merely curled her lip. So instead, the Slytherin focused her thoughts, locking on Tom's presence upstairs and trying not to listen.
ZeldaQueen: Okay, this makes no sense. Remember those two times before, when it became clear that the Dursleys were desperate to keep Marge from discovering Holly's secret? Well now here they are, they see she's getting worked up and possibly about to do something in retaliation. Why in the hell would they keep her around and risk it happening?
"It all comes down to blood, as I was saying the other day. Bad blood will out. Now, I'm saying nothing against your family, Petunia, but your sister was a bad egg," Marge stated nastily, attempting to pat Petunia's hand but missing. "They turn up in the best families. Then, she ran off with a wastrel, and here's the result right in front of us."
Link: (Marge) "A Mary Sue! Now, it can happen to the best of us, but really! Most know to drown the things just as soon as they figure out what they are"
The girl trembled as another inkling of forewarning went down her spine, and she knew something very bad was about to happen. Tom must have felt it also, or maybe it was his senses she was tapping into because she noticed his sudden attention in the back of her mind.
ZeldaQueen: Well that sounds vaguely dirty
Marge didn't take note of any of it. "This Potter… you never told me what he did." The woman seized the brandy bottle and started to drink directly out of it.
ZeldaQueen: Oh for the love of God, this is ridiculous! Yes, suethor, we get it! You don't like Marge, she has the gall to criticize your lovely Sue, so you wrote her as a boozehound. There's no chance of actually being subtle about it, since you clearly think your readers are idiots. GET ON WITH IT!
Vernon sniffed. "He… didn't work," he put in, glancing at his wife and then Holly. "Unemployed."
The Slytherin stiffened, weighing her options.
"As I expected." She took another swig of alcohol. "A no-account, good-for-nothing, lazy scrounger, who-"
"May I please be excused?" Holly interrupted rising to her feet. Without waiting for a reply, she stepped from her chair and went around the table.
ZeldaQueen: Ah yes, lovely there. Look at little Holly, being so much more responsible than Harry! It certainly isn't her fault what happened next!
There was a flash of forewarning, but she was trapped between Marge and the wall, unable to go anywhere but forwards. A firm hand on her wrist stopped her entirely as Holly attempted to do so.
Link: And she managed this how? I thought it was just established that Marge was too drunk to find Petunia's hand right next to her. How's she supposed to have grabbed this little slip of a girl?
"I didn't say you could leave, girl!" Marge gurgled, squeezing half of Holly's wand-arm in her shovel-like hand.
ZeldaQueen: GOD SUETHOR, THIS IS JUST STUPID! IF YOU HAVE TO MAKE YOUR VILLAINS SO LOATHSOME, IT DOESN'T SPEAK WELL OF YOUR MAIN CHARACTER!
The Slytherin was fortunate that she decided to wear her holster on her ankle where it was less noticeable. Else, her wand would probably be ruined by now.
Link: Yes, what a thing to bring up at a time like this!
"Let go."
It was not a request.
Already, she could feel her magic rising to come to her aid, and Holly knew she wouldn't even need to go for her wand.
Link: And what about her telekinesis? Why doesn't she just knock Marge over or something?
Marge sneered again, grounding the girl's bones
ZeldaQueen: - to make her bread
together. "No, you need to hear this, you nasty little beggar," she spat. "Proud of your parents, are you? They go and get themselves killed in a car crash - drunk, I expect - and left you to be a burden on their decent, hardworking relatives." She squeezed the Slytherin's wrist again, and Holly knew she would have a nasty bruise in the morning.
ZeldaQueen: Right. This is unbelievably stupid. In canon, it was actually sort of Harry's fault that Marge turned her attention on him at this point. He snaps at her. The Dursleys actually tell him to leave but Marge wants to bicker with him. Given that, you'd think that the Dursleys would be going nuts trying to peel Marge off of Holly, if only out of fear that she'd inadvertently curse Marge or something. Plus, this entire thing just serves as one bit "pity me" cry for the Sue, like almost everything else. This is like some weird variation of Hogwarts Exposed, only instead of every single plot event changed to be sex-related, this has everything made to be angsty
If it wasn't also broken, that was.
Link: If it wasn't, I'll make it broken
The girl tried to pull back, but she was held tight. "Let go of me," she bit out, feeling her magic churn within her.
"No!"
Marge jerked Holly forward so that the girl was centimetres from her face, the woman's rancid breath choking her victim. She now gripped the child so hard that her hand was white.
ZeldaQueen: Shut up! Shut up! I DON'T CARE!
The girl's arm actually made a popping noise. Holly felt something in her wrist snap, and she bit back a cry of pain.
Link: Dude, how is this possible? Are her bones made of glass or something?
Marge just chuckled maliciously. "You're an insolent, ungrateful little-"
But unexpectedly, the woman suddenly stopped. It seemed like words were actually failing her. Marge was swelling with anger, her eyes filling with it and practically bulging out of her head.
Seconds passed, and the swelling didn't stop. Her face expanded so that she could no longer use her bulbous lips. Buttons popped off of her tweed jacket as her stomach was now too huge to be held in. Her fingers swelled and were no longer able to hold onto the girl, who jerked away. Marge's entire body was now inflated, and it started to rise out of her chair.
ZeldaQueen: Thank you God! That scene is over!
"MARGE!" Vernon and Petunia shrieked together.
Dudley simply stared, open-mouthed with part of his pie dropping to the table. Ripper came skidding into the room, barking like mad.
Holly barely even noticed any of it as she dashed away at top speed. She heard a yell of "NOOOOOOOOO!" in the background and the sound of the dog ripping into someone, but she paid it no mind as she ran to the cupboard under the stairs. The door burst open without prompting, her trunk appearing outside on its own. Holly was about to dart upstairs to fetch Tom and her things, but he saved her the trouble as he rushed downstairs, carrying Hedwig's empty cage and all the rest of her belongings in two pillowcases. Her trunk opened of its own accord, and Tom threw the make-shift sacks in before spelling the cage small. He promptly added that, too, closing the trunk and locking it.
Link: Speed it through! Speed it through! It's our favorite thing to do!
"Let's go," he said reaching for her hand automatically. Thankfully, it was her left and not her injured right.
She simply bowed her head, cradling her damaged wrist to her chest.
ZeldaQueen: I swear to God, if she tries to milk this injury, I'll break her head
"I'll look at it after we're gone," Tom put in swiftly, moving to take her trunk.
Just then, Vernon burst into the entry way, his leg bleeding profusely. "COME BACK IN HERE! COME BACK AND PUT HER RIGHT" he bellowed at Holly, but at the sight of another person, he stopped short. "WHO THE BLOODY HELL ARE-"
Somehow, Holly's wand appeared in Tom's hand, though she wasn't quite sure how that happened. He flourished it at Vernon, pointing the tip directly at him. The teenager quickly transferred his grip on Holly to the upper part of her injured arm so that she could grab her
Link: - ass
trunk.
"It doesn't matter. We're leaving," Tom put in smoothly and rather coldly, brandishing her wand in Vernon's face. "We're leaving, and you are not going to stop us, Dursley." His eyes blazed, burning with power. Holly's wand shot green and gold sparks, one of them hitting the now white-faced Vernon in the nose and causing it to scorch.
ZeldaQueen: They must have been standing pretty close. Does the suethor have any idea how quickly sparks go out?
This and the fact Vernon had been so startled by the older Slytherin's sudden appearance, in wizarding robes no less, caused the burly man to fail to note the slight blurring of Tom at the edges. Dursley didn't even realise the person standing in front of him wasn't anything but completely solid. He was too focused on the wand centimetres from his forehead for anything else to register.
Link: Huh, I don't care. How about that?
"We're going now," Tom went on, even more power going into the wand and a deep red creeping in around the edge of his irises .Although his tone remained completely smooth, his words promised pain. "I dare you to stop us."
ZeldaQueen: I'd listen to them if I were you, Vernon. Those two are complete sociopaths
Vernon shook his head meekly, gaping into Tom's magically blazing eyes before turning tail and hustling back to the dining room and out of sight. The teenager sneered
Both: STOP SNEERING!
after him and wordlessly flicked Holly's wand, the front door opening. With that, the pair was outside, Tom stashing her wand in his sleeve and taking her trunk after he cast a quick Feather-Weight charm on it. His free hand was once more clasped around Holly's uninjured one, pulling her along beside her.
Link: Makes it sound like she's a balloon on a string
Minutes later, they were several streets away, and Tom halted them by a low wall in Magnolia Crescent. Holly, in the meantime, was very wide-eyed and trembling faintly, more from shock than anything else. Part of her wondered when she would receive notice of her expulsion as she had pretty much obliterated the Restriction of Underage Magic, not even counting the untraceable spells Tom had cast with her wand.
ZeldaQueen: As much as you deserve to be expelled, we all know you won't be. Don't you dare angst about it
Another part of her was focused on the fact that Tom had basically revealed himself to Vernon. There was a chance that Dursley would tell, but in her heart of hearts, Holly wasn't too worried. After all, the man had no idea who had just been at his house, and he certainly wouldn't let the Ministry perform any additional spells to find out. Further, she doubted that Vernon had really even noticed what his uninvited guest looked like outside of the wand he carried. The man probably hadn't even realised that the teenager was blurred around the edges, something that could have easily been missed in the shadowy entrance way.
ZeldaQueen: Yeah, and when the Ministry of Magic officials show up to fix Marge, what do you want to bet Vernon will say "Oh yeah, and I was threatened by a strange boy who ran off with my niece"? Just because you're a little shit who hides everything to suit your own wants doesn't mean everyone else does!
"Here," Tom commanded gently, interrupting her wool-gathering, "let me see your wrist."
In all the excitement and with all the adrenalin, Holly had almost failed to remember that. Without warning, her arm throbbed rather painfully, and she hissed. Her wrist was simply letting her know that she may have forgotten about it, but that it hadn't forgotten her.
Link: Oh, shut up!
There was a rustle of fabric as her wand was taken out again, and she turned towards her companion.
Tom didn't even have to voice a spell, simply lighting her wand and holding it in front of him so that he could look at her arm. He turned her hand over, looking this way and that, his fingers gently trailing over the already badly purpling and swelling area.
"How bad is it?" she asked, biting her lip against a sudden jolt of pain. "Is it broken?" she questioned, despite the fact she already knew the answer. The girl could distinctly recall hearing it pop earlier.
ZeldaQueen: I guess dislocations don't exist in this fic. And wouldn't a broken bone make a "snap" and not a "pop"?
Holly almost whimpered as Tom lightly ran his hands over her skin.
"I definitely think it's broken, Hols, and I don't know how to fix this. I guess, I can cast a Numbing charm on it… or maybe make a make-shift splint, but I don't think it will hold long." He inspected her arm again. "We can go to Diagon Alley and get someone there to look it over. That's about all we can do unless we go to St. Mungo's, but I don't know where that is."
ZeldaQueen: What, the smartest student Hogwarts ever had couldn't perform the bandaging spell that Lupin did? Or the healing spell that Tonks did? Or know about St. Mungos at all? Interesting
The girl weakly nodded. But unexpectedly, she felt a tingle of foreboding shoot down her spine, and her mental senses were going off in alarm.
Link: Her Sue-sense was tingling! There was canon to be violated!
There was something nearby… something with an almost human mind.
ZeldaQueen: Oh, she's not. She's really not...
She nudged Tom, and he turned the wand-light to the alleyway next to them. They both bent forward to look inside. It was still dark, despite the light, and they would barely see the walls and the trash bins. However, there was just enough illumination to make out the bulky outline of something massive, something the size of a small pony.
Holly took a step back, her legs hitting her trunk. She would have tripped had Tom not steadied her. She turned her head to thank him, but the gigantic shadow caught her eye once more. She whipped back around, only to see that standing less than a metre away from them was a dog. An enormous, black dog.
ZeldaQueen: Eat her! Eat her! Eat her!
And even as Holly gazed at it, taking in its massive form, she couldn't help but absentmindedly note that for its size the dog was skeletally thin. It looked as though it was half-starved, and a pang of pity shot through her, in spite of the situation. She knew what it was like to go hungry, and she wouldn't wish that on anyone.
ZeldaQueen: Get bent! You're just doing this to look better than Harry! You showed last year exactly how empathetic you are, you little turd!
Without meaning to, the girl looked into the animal's eyes, rather taken aback by dog's intense stare as its gaze flickered from her face to her injured wrist and back.
Link: Is this almost over? Please tell me it's almost over
ZeldaQueen: Don't worry, it is
Link: Thank the goddesses
Suddenly, she inhaled, a memory rising to the forefront of her mind.
ZeldaQueen: Fuck me, here we go
There was a man with inky-black hair and the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen. They were blue surrounded by rings of pure grey, like sapphires set in silver.
And the dog she was looking at had the exact same eyes.
Her mental senses were screaming at her that there was a connection between the two, that the dog had a mind too human-like for it to be a coincidence. But it couldn't be him; it couldn't possibly be him. A dog couldn't also be a person, or would it be a person couldn't also be a dog?
ZeldaQueen: What, didn't Miss Sue take it upon herself to look up Animagi on her own? Or at least know Transfiguration?
But how else would an animal have a human's eyes?
Link: I mean, it's not like she's tired and starving and in pain and possibly is just mistaken!
And it just didn't make any sense. It didn't make sense at all, but the memory forced its way to the forefront of her thoughts once more. The man's blue eyes now seemed to be mocking her.
Link: Like this fic mocks the canon
There was a single word on her mind, just one, and Holly just couldn't help herself. She breathed it out softly.
"Sirius?"
ZeldaQueen: OH FUCK ME, NO SHE DID NOT! SHE DID NOT JUST FIGURE OUT THE ENTIRE FRIGGING MYSTERY OF BOOK THREE RIGHT HERE IN THE FIRST CHAPTER!!!
Link: Okay, I'll bite, how old would she have been when she might have last seen Sirius
ZeldaQueen: That would be when he gave Hagrid the motorbike...back when she was one year and some odd months old
Link: She remembers this guy perfectly from memories of when she was one year old?
ZeldaQueen: Appears so
Link: ... I need a rest
AN: Wow! Third year already! I know that there is a bit of an introduction with Tom in the beginning, but I had to fill in what was going on with the pair of them.
Link: Ah yes, Tom Piddle, the stupid doppleganger of Tom Riddle
Yes, Dudley has a thing for her, but I figure that with a female character he would. He seems like the type to try something as well.
ZeldaQueen: No, he isn't! And it's stupid! You're basically saying that Dudley's only going after her because she's got ovaries. That's just...gah!
Also, in the book, Marge was supposed to arrive on Harry's birthday, but I put it off a day. It doesn't really matter either way, I suppose.
Link: Then why did you bring it up?
To everyone who reviewed: Thanks
Chapter Twenty-Five: A Sirius Situation
Ever Hopeful,
Azar
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Onward to: Chapter 25: A Sirius Situation (Part 1)
Back to: Chapter 24: Child Of Hope (Part 2)
Return to: Table of Contents
Link: Can we get on with it?
Projection Room Voices: Starting Media in 3...2...1...
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Child Of Hope (Part 3)
The next day was one of the most trying in Holly Potter's short life, and it only led to one of the most difficult weeks.
ZeldaQueen: Even though she has twice as many close friends as Harry did and had it well within her means to go elsewhere
She woke up rather rested just after dawn with Tom nowhere in sight. This, however, didn't surprise her in the slightest since she knew that he needed to return to the diary for several hours of hibernation each day. It wasn't truly sleep, but that was the closest term they could come up for it.
Link: So, would I be correct in assuming that the suethor will take canon's humor and replacing it with wangst?
ZeldaQueen: That you would
After making sure he was in fact in his diary, Holly changed out of her clothes from the day previous, which had been slept in, and headed off to take a quick shower.
ZeldaQueen: Why thank you, suethor, I really was curious about that
Link: I love how the suethor felt the need to remind us that the clothes had been slept in, even though we're specifically told in the last scene how dear little Holly was too tired to change her clothes
Approximately a half-hour later, she was washed, dressed in her Petunia cast-offs instead of her nice things,
Link: I thought the Dursleys didn't let her have nice things
and already downstairs making breakfast. The girl had a plan to get her Hogsmeade form signed, and she might as well ingratiate herself with the Dursleys a bit along the way.
ZeldaQueen: *rubs head* Really, suethor? You're really going to try to follow this canon detail? Even though you're trying to get us to believe that the Dursleys treat Holly like a servant and Dudley tries to rape her, there's any possibility of them letting her have something fun? Either they're horribly evil or not!
From what she had learned from Vernon's thoughts the day before, Marge believed that she attended St. Brutus' Secure Centre for Incurably Criminal Children. With this in mind, it would be ridiculously easy to threaten the Dursleys into signing, lest she let the truth slip.
Link: Ah yes, nothing like blackmail in the morning
ZeldaQueen: Oh, and folks? That detail about the Dursleys being terrified about Marge finding out the truth about Holly? Please keep this in mind for later
Thankfully, her scheme worked well enough, and after several threats, Vernon was sufficiently cowed into agreeing if Holly behaved. The Slytherin couldn't help but smile to herself as she put away the dishes, sufficiently pleased.
Link: Yeah, I agree. Are the Dursleys supposed to be horrible or not? The suethor keeps switching between making Holly a poor little victim of their terrible ways and being a devious bitch who can "cow" them into giving her what she wants
Unfortunately, her good mood didn't last long since soon enough the doorbell rang, and she was forced into the entranceway by Petunia. Holly opened the door, only to be unceremoniously shoved to the side as Marge rushed in to find her nephew. The enormous woman, who looked like Vernon but with a less bushy moustache, threw her travel case into Holly's arms, knocking the small girl to the ground. Marge, however, didn't seem to notice. She was too preoccupied with greeting her nephew, read squeezing his blubbery body, and trying to keep her crotchety dog, Ripper, from biting him at the same time.
ZeldaQueen: (Suethor) "Hmm, how could I take this canon bit and make it as angsty as possible?"
Link: Wait, what just happened? It went by so fast, I think I got whiplash
A round of greetings later, the Dursley family trooped into the parlour, ignoring Holly, who was still struggling to her feet. The Slytherin merely growled at this and finally managed to stand, then proceeding to heave the gigantic bag upstairs and into the guest room.
Link: Poor, poor you
ZeldaQueen: Yeah, why's she so pissy? You'd think she'd be glad that they aren't baiting and hitting her
Such behaviour was repeated when she came back downstairs with Marge actually telling Holly that she should have been left at the orphanage. It was only thought of the Hogsmeade form that kept the girl from talking back, and the Snape-like sneer the Slytherin wore for the rest of the day made Marge rather uneasy and kept her from further comment.
ZeldaQueen: This is just...I...oh my head...
Link: If you keep smacking your forehead like that, you're going to hurt something
ZeldaQueen: I DON'T CARE! This...this just doesn't make sense! The suethor can't decide what she's doing! And if Marge is sooooo evil, how could she be shut up and scared by the sneering of a skinny little girl? SUE! *drinks*
In true Marjorie Dursley fashion, similar comments remained the standard for the rest of the week she was staying. On one memorable occasion over lunch the third day, the rotund woman even commented that Vernon and Petunia were not to blame for how their freakish niece had turned out.
Link: My, this is just chugging along here
As Marge put it, "It's one of the basic rules of breeding. You see it all the time with dogs. If there's something wrong with the bitch, there'll be something wrong with the pup."
ZeldaQueen: Oh, there's something wrong with the bitch alright
By that point, Holly was shaking with ill-suppressed rage. As such, she had quite the time reining in her magic, which kept threatening to burst forth.
Link: Wow, the Rose Potter flashbacks are coming on something fierce!
She did manage to keep most of it in check but apparently not enough as large cracks formed on Marge's wine glass. Thankfully, Petunia shooed the girl away afterwards, or there was no telling what she might have done.
ZeldaQueen: First of all, way to outdo canon, suethor. Look at how much better Holly is! She only cracked the glass! That loser Harry actually broke it into pieces! Isn't the Sue so much better?
Second of all, take careful note of that second sentence. That one that shows that Petunia would rather keep her niece out of sight than risk Marge finding out that she's a bitch witch
Looking back on it, Holly wasn't exactly sure how she managed to get through the next few days, though she suspected it was due in large part to Tom and her constant focus on him. She was doubly confounded when she factored in her Mind Magic, which had started to go haywire after the incident with the wine glass. It wasn't that Holly was losing control, as her telepathy seemed fine enough; it was more like her other abilities seemed to take on a will of their own. Or perhaps it was that her brain simply didn't feel like being caged anymore, as if the thing needed to keep it in check was no longer there. Even Tom's calming if cynical presence wasn't enough to keep them at bay.
ZeldaQueen: She's...she's ripping off Mathilda, that's what she's doing. Seriously. Ridiculously abusive family? School friends who love her? Token evil teacher who makes life hell for her? Built up mental energy that lets her move and break things?
Link: *calmly steps behind sofa*
ZeldaQueen: Well.
BITCH, YOU DID NOT! YOU DID NOT JUST COPY A CLASSIC PIECE OF CHILDREN'S LITERATURE AND BASTARDIZE IT WITH A MARY SUE AND TRY TO PASS IT OFF AS WORKING IN THE REALM OF HARRY POTTER!
Link: *sits back down on sofa*
ZeldaQueen: *fumes and drinks*
Before that week, Holly had indeed moved things with her thoughts, the most notable being the spell she had deflected at Lockhart and when she had shoved Dudley to the ground. Nevertheless, the Slytherin had only just begun to consider the possibility that she was a telekinetic, but during Marge's stay, it became readily apparent she was one.
Link: Great, like she didn't have enough non-canon powers already
ZeldaQueen: Did it ever enter her thick skull that she was just wandlessly performing regular magic? There are spells that let one move things around and break stuff!!!
Link: Nah, that isn't sufficiently special
To this, it wasn't unusual for things to suddenly start moving on their own without anyone visibly touching them. Nor was it odd for things to shake all but imperceptibly when she was feeling particularly emotional.
ZeldaQueen: *screams incomprehensibly at the screen*
Link: Oh no. Stop that right now!
ZeldaQueen: What?
Link: You are not. You are not going to get yourself so worked up that the folks in the Projection Room have you sedated, leaving me to spork this alone! You are not!
ZeldaQueen: Fine!
Luckily, it hadn't happened in front of the Dursleys yet, and Holly put that to the fact she had been practicing control. However, when she was alone or when just Tom was with her, Holly's abilities seemed to take that as the go ahead to misbehave. It was doubly fortunate that it seemed the Ministry did not or couldnot track telekinesis, despite whatever extra wards were layered on Privet Drive, as she had not received a single warning for her magic.
Link: *groans* Oh, fantastic! She's found a way to bully people without being caught! This bodes ill
Holly's trials and tribulations aside, the final day of Marge's stay came with much praise to the Maker on the Slytherin's part.
ZeldaQueen: Shut up about this "Maker" business *drinks*
That evening, they made it all the way through supper and to desert without a single mention of the girl or her faults. They were just finishing up with Dudley on his fourth slice of pie, Petunia drinking coffee, and Vernon and Marge consuming large amounts of brandy when the hefty woman decided to take up her favourite topic: Holly bashing.
Link: I don't think the term "bashing" is used in Harry Potter, at least not in that context
ZeldaQueen: Why does the suethor feel the need to make it so blatant? Does she think we won't notice if she doesn't point it out?
Marge let out a rich burp, patting her huge stomach. "Pardon me, but I do like to see a healthy-sized boy." She smiled at Dudley… or more like in his direction as she was too intoxicated for her eyes to completely focus. "You'll be a proper-sized man, Dudders, like your father." She held out her empty glass. " I'll have a spot more brandy, Vernon. Now, this one here." She jerked her hand toward Holly, a hard and dangerous look on her piggy face. The woman sneered.
Both: STOP WITH THE SNEERING!
But Holly had received worse ones from Professor Snape, so she wasn't intimidated in the least.
ZeldaQueen: *rolls eyes*
Link: *snorts and drinks*
"This one's got a mean, runty look to her. You get that with dogs. I had Colonel Fubster drown one last year." She eyed Holly, trying to focus her vision and actually succeeding. Marge took in the girl's slight appearance and lack of height. "Ratty little thing it was. Weak. Underbred."
Link: Hey, you want to drown the Sue? I'm all for it
Holly felt a tingle of forewarning, and her gaze darted to Petunia, pleading for her to be excused. But the horsy-faced woman was feeling particularly vindictive at the moment and merely curled her lip. So instead, the Slytherin focused her thoughts, locking on Tom's presence upstairs and trying not to listen.
ZeldaQueen: Okay, this makes no sense. Remember those two times before, when it became clear that the Dursleys were desperate to keep Marge from discovering Holly's secret? Well now here they are, they see she's getting worked up and possibly about to do something in retaliation. Why in the hell would they keep her around and risk it happening?
"It all comes down to blood, as I was saying the other day. Bad blood will out. Now, I'm saying nothing against your family, Petunia, but your sister was a bad egg," Marge stated nastily, attempting to pat Petunia's hand but missing. "They turn up in the best families. Then, she ran off with a wastrel, and here's the result right in front of us."
Link: (Marge) "A Mary Sue! Now, it can happen to the best of us, but really! Most know to drown the things just as soon as they figure out what they are"
The girl trembled as another inkling of forewarning went down her spine, and she knew something very bad was about to happen. Tom must have felt it also, or maybe it was his senses she was tapping into because she noticed his sudden attention in the back of her mind.
ZeldaQueen: Well that sounds vaguely dirty
Marge didn't take note of any of it. "This Potter… you never told me what he did." The woman seized the brandy bottle and started to drink directly out of it.
ZeldaQueen: Oh for the love of God, this is ridiculous! Yes, suethor, we get it! You don't like Marge, she has the gall to criticize your lovely Sue, so you wrote her as a boozehound. There's no chance of actually being subtle about it, since you clearly think your readers are idiots. GET ON WITH IT!
Vernon sniffed. "He… didn't work," he put in, glancing at his wife and then Holly. "Unemployed."
The Slytherin stiffened, weighing her options.
"As I expected." She took another swig of alcohol. "A no-account, good-for-nothing, lazy scrounger, who-"
"May I please be excused?" Holly interrupted rising to her feet. Without waiting for a reply, she stepped from her chair and went around the table.
ZeldaQueen: Ah yes, lovely there. Look at little Holly, being so much more responsible than Harry! It certainly isn't her fault what happened next!
There was a flash of forewarning, but she was trapped between Marge and the wall, unable to go anywhere but forwards. A firm hand on her wrist stopped her entirely as Holly attempted to do so.
Link: And she managed this how? I thought it was just established that Marge was too drunk to find Petunia's hand right next to her. How's she supposed to have grabbed this little slip of a girl?
"I didn't say you could leave, girl!" Marge gurgled, squeezing half of Holly's wand-arm in her shovel-like hand.
ZeldaQueen: GOD SUETHOR, THIS IS JUST STUPID! IF YOU HAVE TO MAKE YOUR VILLAINS SO LOATHSOME, IT DOESN'T SPEAK WELL OF YOUR MAIN CHARACTER!
The Slytherin was fortunate that she decided to wear her holster on her ankle where it was less noticeable. Else, her wand would probably be ruined by now.
Link: Yes, what a thing to bring up at a time like this!
"Let go."
It was not a request.
Already, she could feel her magic rising to come to her aid, and Holly knew she wouldn't even need to go for her wand.
Link: And what about her telekinesis? Why doesn't she just knock Marge over or something?
Marge sneered again, grounding the girl's bones
ZeldaQueen: - to make her bread
together. "No, you need to hear this, you nasty little beggar," she spat. "Proud of your parents, are you? They go and get themselves killed in a car crash - drunk, I expect - and left you to be a burden on their decent, hardworking relatives." She squeezed the Slytherin's wrist again, and Holly knew she would have a nasty bruise in the morning.
ZeldaQueen: Right. This is unbelievably stupid. In canon, it was actually sort of Harry's fault that Marge turned her attention on him at this point. He snaps at her. The Dursleys actually tell him to leave but Marge wants to bicker with him. Given that, you'd think that the Dursleys would be going nuts trying to peel Marge off of Holly, if only out of fear that she'd inadvertently curse Marge or something. Plus, this entire thing just serves as one bit "pity me" cry for the Sue, like almost everything else. This is like some weird variation of Hogwarts Exposed, only instead of every single plot event changed to be sex-related, this has everything made to be angsty
If it wasn't also broken, that was.
Link: If it wasn't, I'll make it broken
The girl tried to pull back, but she was held tight. "Let go of me," she bit out, feeling her magic churn within her.
"No!"
Marge jerked Holly forward so that the girl was centimetres from her face, the woman's rancid breath choking her victim. She now gripped the child so hard that her hand was white.
ZeldaQueen: Shut up! Shut up! I DON'T CARE!
The girl's arm actually made a popping noise. Holly felt something in her wrist snap, and she bit back a cry of pain.
Link: Dude, how is this possible? Are her bones made of glass or something?
Marge just chuckled maliciously. "You're an insolent, ungrateful little-"
But unexpectedly, the woman suddenly stopped. It seemed like words were actually failing her. Marge was swelling with anger, her eyes filling with it and practically bulging out of her head.
Seconds passed, and the swelling didn't stop. Her face expanded so that she could no longer use her bulbous lips. Buttons popped off of her tweed jacket as her stomach was now too huge to be held in. Her fingers swelled and were no longer able to hold onto the girl, who jerked away. Marge's entire body was now inflated, and it started to rise out of her chair.
ZeldaQueen: Thank you God! That scene is over!
"MARGE!" Vernon and Petunia shrieked together.
Dudley simply stared, open-mouthed with part of his pie dropping to the table. Ripper came skidding into the room, barking like mad.
Holly barely even noticed any of it as she dashed away at top speed. She heard a yell of "NOOOOOOOOO!" in the background and the sound of the dog ripping into someone, but she paid it no mind as she ran to the cupboard under the stairs. The door burst open without prompting, her trunk appearing outside on its own. Holly was about to dart upstairs to fetch Tom and her things, but he saved her the trouble as he rushed downstairs, carrying Hedwig's empty cage and all the rest of her belongings in two pillowcases. Her trunk opened of its own accord, and Tom threw the make-shift sacks in before spelling the cage small. He promptly added that, too, closing the trunk and locking it.
Link: Speed it through! Speed it through! It's our favorite thing to do!
"Let's go," he said reaching for her hand automatically. Thankfully, it was her left and not her injured right.
She simply bowed her head, cradling her damaged wrist to her chest.
ZeldaQueen: I swear to God, if she tries to milk this injury, I'll break her head
"I'll look at it after we're gone," Tom put in swiftly, moving to take her trunk.
Just then, Vernon burst into the entry way, his leg bleeding profusely. "COME BACK IN HERE! COME BACK AND PUT HER RIGHT" he bellowed at Holly, but at the sight of another person, he stopped short. "WHO THE BLOODY HELL ARE-"
Somehow, Holly's wand appeared in Tom's hand, though she wasn't quite sure how that happened. He flourished it at Vernon, pointing the tip directly at him. The teenager quickly transferred his grip on Holly to the upper part of her injured arm so that she could grab her
Link: - ass
trunk.
"It doesn't matter. We're leaving," Tom put in smoothly and rather coldly, brandishing her wand in Vernon's face. "We're leaving, and you are not going to stop us, Dursley." His eyes blazed, burning with power. Holly's wand shot green and gold sparks, one of them hitting the now white-faced Vernon in the nose and causing it to scorch.
ZeldaQueen: They must have been standing pretty close. Does the suethor have any idea how quickly sparks go out?
This and the fact Vernon had been so startled by the older Slytherin's sudden appearance, in wizarding robes no less, caused the burly man to fail to note the slight blurring of Tom at the edges. Dursley didn't even realise the person standing in front of him wasn't anything but completely solid. He was too focused on the wand centimetres from his forehead for anything else to register.
Link: Huh, I don't care. How about that?
"We're going now," Tom went on, even more power going into the wand and a deep red creeping in around the edge of his irises .Although his tone remained completely smooth, his words promised pain. "I dare you to stop us."
ZeldaQueen: I'd listen to them if I were you, Vernon. Those two are complete sociopaths
Vernon shook his head meekly, gaping into Tom's magically blazing eyes before turning tail and hustling back to the dining room and out of sight. The teenager sneered
Both: STOP SNEERING!
after him and wordlessly flicked Holly's wand, the front door opening. With that, the pair was outside, Tom stashing her wand in his sleeve and taking her trunk after he cast a quick Feather-Weight charm on it. His free hand was once more clasped around Holly's uninjured one, pulling her along beside her.
Link: Makes it sound like she's a balloon on a string
Minutes later, they were several streets away, and Tom halted them by a low wall in Magnolia Crescent. Holly, in the meantime, was very wide-eyed and trembling faintly, more from shock than anything else. Part of her wondered when she would receive notice of her expulsion as she had pretty much obliterated the Restriction of Underage Magic, not even counting the untraceable spells Tom had cast with her wand.
ZeldaQueen: As much as you deserve to be expelled, we all know you won't be. Don't you dare angst about it
Another part of her was focused on the fact that Tom had basically revealed himself to Vernon. There was a chance that Dursley would tell, but in her heart of hearts, Holly wasn't too worried. After all, the man had no idea who had just been at his house, and he certainly wouldn't let the Ministry perform any additional spells to find out. Further, she doubted that Vernon had really even noticed what his uninvited guest looked like outside of the wand he carried. The man probably hadn't even realised that the teenager was blurred around the edges, something that could have easily been missed in the shadowy entrance way.
ZeldaQueen: Yeah, and when the Ministry of Magic officials show up to fix Marge, what do you want to bet Vernon will say "Oh yeah, and I was threatened by a strange boy who ran off with my niece"? Just because you're a little shit who hides everything to suit your own wants doesn't mean everyone else does!
"Here," Tom commanded gently, interrupting her wool-gathering, "let me see your wrist."
In all the excitement and with all the adrenalin, Holly had almost failed to remember that. Without warning, her arm throbbed rather painfully, and she hissed. Her wrist was simply letting her know that she may have forgotten about it, but that it hadn't forgotten her.
Link: Oh, shut up!
There was a rustle of fabric as her wand was taken out again, and she turned towards her companion.
Tom didn't even have to voice a spell, simply lighting her wand and holding it in front of him so that he could look at her arm. He turned her hand over, looking this way and that, his fingers gently trailing over the already badly purpling and swelling area.
"How bad is it?" she asked, biting her lip against a sudden jolt of pain. "Is it broken?" she questioned, despite the fact she already knew the answer. The girl could distinctly recall hearing it pop earlier.
ZeldaQueen: I guess dislocations don't exist in this fic. And wouldn't a broken bone make a "snap" and not a "pop"?
Holly almost whimpered as Tom lightly ran his hands over her skin.
"I definitely think it's broken, Hols, and I don't know how to fix this. I guess, I can cast a Numbing charm on it… or maybe make a make-shift splint, but I don't think it will hold long." He inspected her arm again. "We can go to Diagon Alley and get someone there to look it over. That's about all we can do unless we go to St. Mungo's, but I don't know where that is."
ZeldaQueen: What, the smartest student Hogwarts ever had couldn't perform the bandaging spell that Lupin did? Or the healing spell that Tonks did? Or know about St. Mungos at all? Interesting
The girl weakly nodded. But unexpectedly, she felt a tingle of foreboding shoot down her spine, and her mental senses were going off in alarm.
Link: Her Sue-sense was tingling! There was canon to be violated!
There was something nearby… something with an almost human mind.
ZeldaQueen: Oh, she's not. She's really not...
She nudged Tom, and he turned the wand-light to the alleyway next to them. They both bent forward to look inside. It was still dark, despite the light, and they would barely see the walls and the trash bins. However, there was just enough illumination to make out the bulky outline of something massive, something the size of a small pony.
Holly took a step back, her legs hitting her trunk. She would have tripped had Tom not steadied her. She turned her head to thank him, but the gigantic shadow caught her eye once more. She whipped back around, only to see that standing less than a metre away from them was a dog. An enormous, black dog.
ZeldaQueen: Eat her! Eat her! Eat her!
And even as Holly gazed at it, taking in its massive form, she couldn't help but absentmindedly note that for its size the dog was skeletally thin. It looked as though it was half-starved, and a pang of pity shot through her, in spite of the situation. She knew what it was like to go hungry, and she wouldn't wish that on anyone.
ZeldaQueen: Get bent! You're just doing this to look better than Harry! You showed last year exactly how empathetic you are, you little turd!
Without meaning to, the girl looked into the animal's eyes, rather taken aback by dog's intense stare as its gaze flickered from her face to her injured wrist and back.
Link: Is this almost over? Please tell me it's almost over
ZeldaQueen: Don't worry, it is
Link: Thank the goddesses
Suddenly, she inhaled, a memory rising to the forefront of her mind.
ZeldaQueen: Fuck me, here we go
There was a man with inky-black hair and the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen. They were blue surrounded by rings of pure grey, like sapphires set in silver.
And the dog she was looking at had the exact same eyes.
Her mental senses were screaming at her that there was a connection between the two, that the dog had a mind too human-like for it to be a coincidence. But it couldn't be him; it couldn't possibly be him. A dog couldn't also be a person, or would it be a person couldn't also be a dog?
ZeldaQueen: What, didn't Miss Sue take it upon herself to look up Animagi on her own? Or at least know Transfiguration?
But how else would an animal have a human's eyes?
Link: I mean, it's not like she's tired and starving and in pain and possibly is just mistaken!
And it just didn't make any sense. It didn't make sense at all, but the memory forced its way to the forefront of her thoughts once more. The man's blue eyes now seemed to be mocking her.
Link: Like this fic mocks the canon
There was a single word on her mind, just one, and Holly just couldn't help herself. She breathed it out softly.
"Sirius?"
ZeldaQueen: OH FUCK ME, NO SHE DID NOT! SHE DID NOT JUST FIGURE OUT THE ENTIRE FRIGGING MYSTERY OF BOOK THREE RIGHT HERE IN THE FIRST CHAPTER!!!
Link: Okay, I'll bite, how old would she have been when she might have last seen Sirius
ZeldaQueen: That would be when he gave Hagrid the motorbike...back when she was one year and some odd months old
Link: She remembers this guy perfectly from memories of when she was one year old?
ZeldaQueen: Appears so
Link: ... I need a rest
AN: Wow! Third year already! I know that there is a bit of an introduction with Tom in the beginning, but I had to fill in what was going on with the pair of them.
Link: Ah yes, Tom Piddle, the stupid doppleganger of Tom Riddle
Yes, Dudley has a thing for her, but I figure that with a female character he would. He seems like the type to try something as well.
ZeldaQueen: No, he isn't! And it's stupid! You're basically saying that Dudley's only going after her because she's got ovaries. That's just...gah!
Also, in the book, Marge was supposed to arrive on Harry's birthday, but I put it off a day. It doesn't really matter either way, I suppose.
Link: Then why did you bring it up?
To everyone who reviewed: Thanks
Chapter Twenty-Five: A Sirius Situation
Ever Hopeful,
Azar
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Onward to: Chapter 25: A Sirius Situation (Part 1)
Back to: Chapter 24: Child Of Hope (Part 2)
Return to: Table of Contents