(open)the beginning

[terria kya newton]

the wind was blowing with a fierceness that terria wasn't used to at all. the gloominess of london was strikingly different from home. she needed sunshine, not clouds and constant drizzle and fog. apparently, september was known for these kinds of conditions though, so terria knew she needed to get used to it all, fast. as she sifted her way through the crowds of people at king's cross station, she felt more alone than she had in a long time. it took her a while to find platform nine and three quarters and, when she did, she spent about ten minutes just waiting and watching others make their way through the barrier. she was nervous that she might do it wrong and mess up. when she made the move through the brick wall, she closed her eyes tight. once on the other side, a wave of relief over came her.

she watched as younger students kissed their parents goodbye. she saw how they all interacted, the families. it wasn't until then that terria realized what she didn't have. she tugged her cart with her trunk on it gently and made her way closer to the train where her luggage was taken. she had only a book-bag in her arms then. inside it were books from home. she had the book of stories her mother had once read to her as a child. in a sense, terria clung to that, as if it had her mother inside it.

boarding the train was almost as hard as watching the families outside. everyone had a friend. people were all paired up. everyone knew what they were doing and terria merely stood there in the corridor, looking lost and idiotic. she ran a hand through her dark hair and slipped down the aisle toward an empty compartment. she ducked inside and scooted into the seat closest to the window. she inhaled deeply and closed her eyes. "it's okay. you're doing fine so far. you can do this. you're sixteen." she murmured gently. she was calming herself, she needed to just get through this train ride and then she would know she could handle it.

terria gave herself a side-ways glance, her reflection taunting her in the window. she wore a long-sleeved shirt and jeans. she wasn't dressed for icy london weather. luckily, inside her bag, were her school clothes. the robes for her house, ravenclaw, were begging to be worn. terria liked the simplicity of the school uniform. she was convinced that she could blend in should she wear her uniform. she debated pulling it on right then, but knew not many other students had changed yet. she didn't want to draw any attention. she wanted to be just like everyone else. she wanted to fit in and make sense. she had to.

the train would leave soon. terria wondered if anyone would come and share the compartment with her, or if she would be avoided. she pulled out her book of stories and touched each page gingerly, lovingly. she tried to read one of them, but the words wouldn't seem to stick in her racing mind. she couldn't focus. she could only sit and wait, nervously, for anyone to approach her.

[mercedes carissa nott]

The familiar pushing and shoving of students rushing past her made Mercedes just the tiniest bit dizzy. She'd always hated the rushed feeling she got as soon as she ran through that brick wall. And today it was much worse, because her parents had made her extra late. With five short minutes to spare before the train left the station, Mr. and Mrs. Nott made a big spectacle of hugging and kissing their children goodbye, for the benefit of onlookers, Mercy was sure.

Once they were on board and their luggage stored away, Mercy's siblings abandoned her in favor of sitting with friends from the own years. It was something she was used to, so she didn't argue. Slowly and silently, she made her way along the train, narrowly dodging running first years and avoiding stepping on the tails of lost pets. She sighed loudly though no one could hear her above some shouting down the corridor. There were some things about Hogwarts that Mercedes really didn't like. The train rides were one of them.

The train was set to leave one minute before she stumbled into Terria's cabin. She'd been searching for some of her friends to sit with, but they seemed to be missing, or their cabins full. Even the first- and second-years, who Mercy would have no problems sitting with, were occupied. This was the first cabin she'd found that wasn't near-full. And the emptier the cabin, the more comfortable she felt. Still, she stopped in her tracks when she spotted Terria.

Until that moment, Mercy had been under the impression that she knew the face of every student fifth year and up, and more than half of their names. But the girl sitting in that compartment looked completely unfamiliar to her. It spooked Mercy a little. Her mind and memory were things she prided herself on. If either were failing now ... but no, she wouldn't let herself think about it now. Instead she walked full into the room and put on her sweetest smile, suddenly a little self-conscious of her beige turtleneck and long black skirt. She would feel much more comfortable in her school uniform. 'Nothing I can do about it now,' she reminded herself.

"Would you mind if I sat in here?" she asked quietly.

[terria kya newton]

As if to come waltzing through Terria’s nerves, a girl who looked roughly her age wandered into the compartment with her. Terria looked up from her book and stared for a moment, wide-eyed and subtly horrified. She felt socially stupid. What should she say? How should she react? What was normal? And then, she realized that sitting there with her mouth slightly open and her eyes paranoid was far from normal. So, Terria composed herself.

”Oh, uhm, yes. I mean, no. I don’t mind. That’s what I mean. You can sit wherever you like.” Terria said, trying to not sound as idiotic as she felt. This was all so new to her. Why did she have to be the new girl where everyone was completely normal. But were they? Something about this girl seemed sort of different than the others she’d passed in the corridors. Something felt familiar. Terria felt as though she was more connected to this stranger than to all the other strangers she’d waded through so far.

”I’m Terria Kya Newton. You can call me Kya. I go by my middle name most often.” Terria started talking and realized she was being much too friendly. She was supposed to stay invisible, not try and put herself on a first-name basis with a stranger sharing her compartment on the train to school. What would she do when she got to school and shared work tables and dorms with people? Would they start to know her well quickly? Would they all find out her secret? Terria felt panic rise up within her but hid it carefully. She couldn’t show panic now. This was only the beginning.

[mercedes carissa nott]

Mercedes stood staring at Terria, waiting for a response. She was half ready to bolt by the time she received an answer, thinking that perhaps this was someone from Cecilia's year, whom she was not friendly with. "Thank you," she said, hiding her surprise at being allowed to stay behind a big smile.

She took the seat directly across from Terria and quickly looked out the window to avoid staring at her. There was something very strange about the girl, she was realizing. 'Either she's as antisocial as I am, or she's nervous about something,' Mercy thought. She searched for her parents in the crowd of families passing the window as the train picked up speed, but it was clear they'd already left. She forced herself to make eye contact while Terria was talking.

"It's nice to meet you, Kya. My name is Mercedes Nott, but you can call me Mercy." The new name rang through her head like a howler. She tried to think of if she'd ever heard it before, but it sounded completely new to her. Finally, the guessing was too much for Mercedes to bare, so she thought of the most delicate way to ask Kya herself. "If you don't mind me asking, what house are you in?

[terria kya newton]

Terria took a breath, calming herself down. She tried to stay positive, think she was merely paranoid and it was silly to assume anyone would care about her secret. She needed to be normal. Normal was key. And this Mercy girl seemed rather normal and quite likable. It was the smile, Terria decided. That was what she liked most about Mercy. The girl seemed sort of socially off, like Terria knew she must be, but Mercy was still polite enough to smile regardless of that. Terria let a small smile meet her expression as well, trying to feel comfortable in this strange new environment.

And then Mercy asked about her house. And Terria’s smile went skittering off into it’s little hiding place behind a blank and somewhat confused expression. House, yes, house. Ravenclaw! She knew that! She’d just been thinking about it mere moments earlier! It wasn’t some insanely complicated trivia question or anything. Mercy had only asked about her house. But some part of Terria’s frantic and paranoid mind couldn’t help but racing in circles. She kept thinking, Oh yes, now she wants to know what house I’m in, but tomorrow she’ll be asking about why I creep into the woods and drink poor and innocent animals’ blood! That was irrational, but Terria felt as if she had a right to be on edge.

”Uhm, Ravenclaw. I’m sixth year. You?” She asked her. It was perfectly conversational, but she couldn’t ease away that blankness on her own face. She knew Mercy must have thought she was some kind of alien or something.

[mercedes carissa nott]

'This could take a while,' Mercy realized as she watched Terria come up with an answer. She remained smiling while she waited, self-consciously playing with the hem of her sleeve when she thought Terria was taking too long to remember her house.

When she finally did get an answer, she froze in surprise, her eyebrows shot up and her mouth slightly open. Then Terria asked for her house, and Mercy's surprise gave way to confusion. She didn't even bother to try and hide it, because she knew it would be useless. There was no possible explanation for two students in the same house, just a year apart, not to recognize each other. Even if Mercy didn't see Terria very often, surely she would've recognized her name!

"That ... that's not possible," she finally managed to say, still staring at Terria strangely. "I'm a Ravenclaw. Fifth year. We can't possibly be in the same house. I would know you." Wild ideas of why Terria might be lying flashed thought Mercedes' mind, each one making her angrier. This girl, whom she was sure she'd never met, had actually lied to her. No one lies about their house. Rather, no one lies about it and expects to get away with it. The only sensible explanation was that she was sneaking into Hogwarts for some reason - a spy of the dark lord's, perhaps. It would certainly explain her skittish behavior. Still, she couldn't be sure, and she couldn't risk looking like an idiot if she was wrong about her, so instead of throwing accusations she said, "What are you?"

[terria kya newton]

Terria could feel her cheeks turning what was almost certainly the same shade as a fire engine. She felt like such a fraud. She’d been found out already and she’d not even made it to the school! She was a failure! But that wasn’t how she was supposed to go about all this. No, she had to keep her chin up and do as she was supposed to. Something about Mercy brought out a sense of sincerity in Terria. She couldn’t, just couldn’t, blatantly lie to the girl. She knew the future would only be filled to the brim with lies, but right now, she wanted to offer some small bit of the truth. Not all of it. It was practically illegal for her to tell them about her secret, but she couldn’t just make things up.

”I’m new. I guess that’s strange. Normally, people start from first year, right?” She asked, her cheeks still burning red. ”I was home-schooled and then some bad stuff happened with my family and now I’m here.” Speaking the words was this huge sigh of relief to her. Terria felt awash with calm after opening up the smallest bit. It wasn’t as if she’d spilled out all her truths. She hadn’t blurted out that she was a vampire or that her parents were dead and it was all her fault or that she was kind of a general danger to anyone around her because everyone was just waiting for her to mess up and bite someone or kill someone. Those things, Terria kept to herself. And she tried to let that calm settle in. She tried to ignore that Mercedes had just asked her what she was and she tried to not feel horrified.

”And I don’t really know anyone. I’m sorry if I took you by surprise.” Terria mumbled. She felt bad, as if she’d done something wrong. Although she knew she hadn’t. She was just… Lost. She felt as lost as ever.

[mercedes carissa nott]

Embarrassment flashed on Mercy's face as she recognized the sincerity in Terria's words. She mentally berated herself for having jumped to conclusions and forcing Terria to explain herself. 'Doing your house real proud there, girly,' she thought, the same words her brother always said whenever she'd do something stupid. And he wondered why she didn't talk much.

She waited for Terria to finish before switching seats to sit beside her. Mercy gently placed a hand on her arm. "I am so sorry. You shouldn't have had to tell me any of that. I jump to conclusions sometimes, and I thought ... well, regardless, I acted badly. I'm sorry. Please forgive me." Her smile returned. "I'm glad you'll be in Ravenclaw. I don't know a lot of people either, but most of the people in our house are really nice. I think you'll like it there. And maybe I can show you around ... if you want."

Mercy wondered was she was doing, offering to do anything with Terria. The fact that they'd be sharing a common room was enough of a push for them to get to know each other. Now she was making plans. It implied that they might become friends. She knew this was a bad idea. She always kept to herself and avoided making friends so she wouldn't hurt them. Mercy was dangerous, and who was she to put this poor girl's life at risk just so they could be friends?

[terria kya newton]

Terria saw a kindness in Mercedes that she hadn’t seen since arriving in London. It was something she appreciated beyond words. She couldn’t say that either, because it would all come out wrong. She just couldn’t help but feel rather lucky to stumble across this girl, even though she had accused Terria quickly. At least she had apologized and now seemed to have nothing but the most friendly intentions.

”It’s fine, really. I forgive you.” Terria smiled shyly. ”I’m very excited to be in Ravenclaw. I don’t know much about the other houses. It’s just, my father was in Ravenclaw, so I knew it would be where I belong. I can’t wait to see what everything is like. I’d really love it if you showed me around. I’ve never been inside a castle, let alone one that’s a school.” Terria couldn’t hide her excitement. Given, it was a mellow and somewhat withdrawn excitement, but her face was glowing with eagerness.

”What’s it like? What should I expect?” Terria asked, now she had turned slightly and sat facing Mercy. She wanted to hear stories from someone who had been there. She wanted to know what it would all be like.

[mercedes carissa nott]

"Well, overall it's really a great place. Privacy is hard to find, but there are a few abandoned classrooms and passageways that I can show you later, where you can go to be alone. The professors are really nice, especially Professor Flitwick. He's our head of house. Speaking of houses-" Mercy stopped herself, unsure of how to go on.

She didn't want to scare Terria with warnings about the Slytherins, but wasn't it better that she knew now, instead of finding out for herself later? Mercy thought back to when she was a child, long before she was bitten, to how many hours she had wasted trying to make her parents proud and fit in with the family. Where had it gotten her? She barely spoke to her parents, and she only saw her siblings during meals in the great hall when they ignored her. Slytherins were cold and selfish creatures.

"Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs are usually good people," she continued slowly. "Just ... be careful with the Slytherins. I grew up in a house full of them, and most times it wasn't so great. Of course, that's just from my experience. Maybe they'll be different with you." She tried to sound optimistic, but it was hard when she knew what their kind was like, and what they would do to a sweet girl like Terria. "Anyway, you must know loads of magic already if Dumbledore is letting you start at sixth year. What are you good at?"