Fa A Bhialainn Ann- Chapter 2

Dear Ma and Da,

Life in England isn't as bad as I made it out to be. Mind, there are the occasional prats who get on my nerves, but so did Jonny Flynn, back home, so I guess that's normal. I've met some very nice people, but

I'm only able to see one of them regularly. Her name's Lily, and she's in my house--Slytherin. Granted,

I'm not too happy to be here, but I guess I'll get used to it. Eventually.

That's about it. Life's not too interesting so far. The sixth years have organized a Halloween dance, but I don't think I'll go. Ma, don't chide me for being anti-social, please. I may go, if Lily wants me to. Well, I miss you and love you both. Dunk Liam in the well for me!

Love from Fi

Fiona re-read her letter and, nodding approvingly, folded it and handed it to her small, brown barn owl.

"Here, Snitch, take this to Ma and Da, please." The owl gave her a look, and she sighed. "Yes, I'll write to Liam as well. Honestly--am I required to keep in touch with younger siblings?"

Snitch gave her wrist an affectionate nip, then flapped out of the open window. Fiona sighed and rested her chin on her hands, gazing across the nighttime grounds. WHY had she ended up in Slytherin? Of all places! Well, at least she was with Lily. That was a plus.

On the other hand, Lucious Malfoy, Aaron (Pug-Face) Parkinson, and Severus Snape were really getting on her nerves. They couldn't understand how someone like her got into Slytherin.

And, honestly, neither could Fi. Occasionally, she thought it might be her bloodline, but that didn't necessarily confine a person to being evil! Well, not unless they WANTED to be...In which case, they could be VERY dangerous...

Blowing a stray lock of brown hair from her face, she stopped gazing out the window and checked her Potions homework. Professor Blasphen, who normally favored Slytherin students, was quite harsh with her.

Fiona had always been the "smart kid" in her other schools, and had always been excellent at all of her subjects. She made straight A's, or an occasional B. And Hogwarts had hit hard. Transfiguration had been particularly tough, as she hadn't ever been very good at it in the first place. Potions, which had always been somewhat simple for her, had turned out to be her worst subject yet. On the most recent project, an antidote for Love Potion, she had botched it badly enough to receive a D from the Professor, a record for any Slytherin. Lily had convinced her that her grade would improve, once she settled in and managed to "get into the swing of things." Fiona wasn't so sure, somehow.

The events that had taken place at her last school, the day she was expelled, were enough to make Fi wonder if she'd ever get through school. Though her mother had told her not to worry herself over it, that she'd just lost control, Fi couldn't help but hate herself for it. Why, oh why did it have to be in her blood? Why did she have to inherit it? Couldn't Liam have inherited it? She stopped herself there, grimacing as she thought of what Liam would do with her powers.

Sighing loudly again, she stuffed her checked and re-checked homework into her schoolbag, then stripped off her dressing gown and allowed herself to fall into bed. She lay there, tossing and turning for what seemed like hours, until she finally felt herself drifting off to sleep, though rather fitfully.

***(A/N: that means a dream, 'kay? Just so you're not confused...)

Fiona walked into the small classroom, surprised as everyone shrank away from her, as though afraid of catching some sort of disease. Casting those nearest to her a quizzical glance, she set her books down on her desk and remained standing. Softly, she cleared her throat. "Uhm...Is something particularly interesting, or are you lot just being rude?" Jonny Flynn snorted. "Do you guys actually believe that crap? Do you think she actually can do that?"

He gave a rather disbelieving snicker and shook his head.

Fi's heart was beating faster than usual. "What d'you mean?" Did they know? How could they know? HOW?

Mary O'Connell stepped forward. "So is it true?"

"Is what true?" Now she was starting to get cold all over. This couldn't be good...How could they know?

Mary gave her an exasperated look. "Look, don't pretend. We all know you are."

"What..." Fi protested in a whisper, not really asking anymore.

"A Faery-speaker." Fiona didn't respond, so Mary pressed on: "Well, are you?"

"I d-don't know--"

"She told us." Jonny jerked a thumb at a small girl with sandy hair and lots of freckles. When she saw

Fiona turn to face her, she cringed.

Fiona crumbled inside. Nuala, the one friend she THOUGHT she'd had...The ONE person she'd ever told...

Had told everyone. Fi swallowed roughly, staring at Nuala with over-bright eyes. "I..."

"She IS!" one girl exclaimed. "Oh, wow..."

"No, she isn't," Jonny said. "That's silly. They're all extinct, remember? Grindelwald killed them all off in the war!"

"Well, if she is," another boy said, the hint of a somewhat cruel smile tugging at his lips, "then she should be able to call on the faeries right now. Right?"

"Right," the others chorused, catching on.

Fiona took in the students, gathering in a large circle around her, with fearful eyes. They were going to make her do it. They would force her...No! No, she'd practiced too much. She'd worked too hard to keep it under control...She couldn't give them the satisfaction of winning in this...

She yelped as they started to push her back and forth within the circle, laughing cruelly and chanting,

"Call them! Call them!"

She could see the faeries now. They were flitting about the room, unseen by all those who did not wish

to see. The lucky souls.

A few of them fluttered over to her, obviously sensing her distress, as she was pushed roughly about.

One of them, with brilliantly purple hair and orange wings, gave her a somewhat questioning look and landed briefly on the tip of her nose, falling as she was again shoved.

Tripping over a particularly hard push, Fiona fell to the floor, and the flood of tears she'd been willing back suddenly broke free, streaming down her cheeks. She covered her tear-streaked face, angry her mother, for being the faery-speaker she was, angry at the world for having such prejudice for her kind, angry at whatever divine force had thought it such a joke as to make her inherit it. Anger coursed through her at such a level that she wasn't able to describe it. It was so liberating, the anger, and suddenly she was aware that no one was shoving at her any more. In fact, no one was paying the least bit of attention to her anymore. No, the faeries had seen to that...They'd felt her anger...

Nuala, the traitor, was hanging from the curtain rod, while Jonny Flynn was fighting off a quartet of brightly colored, cackling sprites as they worked together to tie his shoelaces together, yank his hair out, and generally cause him to scream and flail his arms about his head. The other children in the class were suffering similarly.

And, of course, that was the moment at which the teacher chose to come into the room. The look on her face as she took in the scene, and the numbness in Fi's brain as the woman cleared the faeries with a complicated spell, allowing the other children to point the blame to Fi, was enough to make her burst into a fresh wave of tears again before running from the classroom.

***(that would be the "end dream" signal. 'kay?)

Fiona awoke, shaking and crying, in the dungeon-esque dormitory of Slytherin. One week after the ordeal, she'd been expelled from Dublin Academy. At the age of fifteen, she'd allowed herself to lose control over the one thing she shouldn't ever allow herself to lose control of. And now she might face it again.

"Fi, are you okay?" Lily's voice traveled across the room, sounding groggy.

"Shaddup, you twits." That was Narcissa Mueren.

'Such a LOVELY girl,' Fi thought bitterly, stifling her tears. "No, Lily, I'm fine. Don't worry. Just a bad dream."

"Sure?"

"Positive."

"I said, SHADDUP!"

Fi threw open the curtains. "And we HEARD you, Narcissus! Honestly..."

"It is NOT Narcissus, you ignorant Mu--" Narcissa abruptly stopped talking. Looking around the curtains,

Fi saw that her throat was working, but no sound was issuing from it. A silvery laugh caught her attention, and Fi turned to see Lily, twirling her wand idly in her fingers.

Fiona, wiping her tears away, giggled along with Lily. "Thanks."

Narcissa was quite obviously trying to scream at the top of her lungs, and failing. Instead she stomped her feet loudly on the stone floor, making odd slapping noises. Fiona grinned and climbed back into bed. After about thirty seconds, the slapping noises were loudly echoing from right next to her curtains. She heard, over the slapping, Lily's slightly muffled voice. "Narcissa, if you don't get your foot-slapping little self back in bed, I'll put the body bind on you, too. You know I will."

The slapping noises abruptly stopped, and Fiona grinned into her pillow, exceptionally glad for a friend like Lily. But could she ever tell her? She had thought she could trust Nuala, and in the end...

She would just have to see what happened. As far as she was concerned at the moment, she was happy with her friendship as it was. Maybe someday, she would tell Lily, but until then she would just try to keep herself out of trouble.