Touch

Accepted (1st Year)

   It all started out like a normal summer day, well it would be what Annabella Rose defined as normal. She would wake up around 7 am after having a very vivid yet strange reoccurring dream that was always hard to remember after a few minutes. She then would get dressed head downstairs to eat breakfast with her mother and Thomas, who was a poor excuse for a father figure. This was the simple part of the day. All she had to do was bid a few 'good mornings' and 'I slept well thank you's' then she was given the rest of her time to eat in silence and mentally prepare for the time to come after her mother had left. Continuing on with the day she would have numerous chores given by her step father since her mother had left for work, receiving numerous amounts of 'physical criticism' is what her step father called it. Her mother was never the one to inflict this pain, only her stepfather. For this reasoning she never liked receiving any sort of affection from anyone as her trust and innocence was lost at a very young age. Even her own mother knew she didn't like physical touch though the reasoning behind it remained a mystery to her. Being given chores was never much of a problem for her. Rose, as her mother calls her, would never complain. She saw it as a good opportunity to be away from him and inside her thoughts which to her was more than she could ask for each day.

   After all her chores were done she would go out into the garden and paint. Painting was something that gave Rose a sense of freedom. She could paint for hours upon hours as she was very good. Everything she saw, landscapes, animals, people etc. Would always end up on the blank canvas that would soon be filled with vibrant colors. The paintings gave her a sense of individuality because they were hers. She never let anyone see them apart from her mother who would practically have to beg her daughter to be allowed to see the finishing products. Rose stayed outside all day painting away til her mother got home.

  "Hey Rose, painting again I see." "When have you ever seen me not paint mom?" Her mother, called Meredith, gave a little chuckle. "That is true. Are you done with it can I see?" "No not yet, I have one more detail I need to add" she said as she grabbed her canvas and turned it away before her mother had a chance to peek. Her mother sat in the chair next to her while she waited for her daughter to finish.

  "Alright I'm done you can see now." Normally Rose would put up more a fight to prevent her mother from seeing her paintings. But as seeing her baggy eyes and gloomy face, she could tell her mother had a bad day at work. She handed her mom the painting of the forest that she oversaw on her back patio and allowed her to observe. Her mother was in awe, "Rose this is just, wow, its beautiful words can't describe it" Rose smiled. It's the same thing she always said. But they are words she never got tired of hearing. "How did I get so lucky to have a talented daughter like you" her mother took one more glance at the painting before handing it back to Rose and went inside. Her mother was her best friend, always has been. She always appreciated her daughters talent. Meredith loved her daughter to the ends of the earth. That's something that would never change. Not even when she received a quite peculiar letter at dinner that night.

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  "Are you done eating Rose?" Her mother asked and she simply nodded as her mother took her plate for her, receiving a glare from her stepfather. "She can take her own plate to the sink you know? She's not helpless." "I don't mind dear I was already standing up" "Well she has two perfectly good working legs. Take your own plate to the sink next time do not make your mother do it. You are not 3 years old anymore." As if you knew me when I was three, thought Rose as she rolled her eyes which did not go unnoticed and she knew she was going to pay for that later. Knowing she was going to be punished with Thomas's ''physical criticism' after her mother went to sleep she decided to push his buttons further, "You know I don't recall you ever getting the right to tell me what to do." she said, snapping at him. "Rose he is your step father you should do as he says" said her mother as she was trying to defuse the obvious tension between the two. She let out a deep sigh and looked her step father in the eyes once more, and once again rolling her own. He stood up from his seat in anger, the fear in Roses's eyes increasing. "Alright that's it you little-" he was cut off by the sound of an bird pecking at the window. Everything was silent. All eyes were on the bird, an owl specifically pecking at the window which seemed to have some sort of parchment attached to it. Rose could feel that the silence was filled with some sort of fear. But it wasn't her own as she turned for a split second to see her mother with wide eyes.

  "Mom? are you alright" Meredith did not answer and she looked as though she was paralyzed. Rose took a step to her mother and asked once again if she was ok. Her mother seemed to snap out of it,"Rose let the owl in" "Are you crazy?! We can't let a bird in the house! It could cause chaos!"said her step father. "Rose do as I say. If this is what I think it is you need to open the window." she gave a nod and slowly stepped towards the window and opened it to let the owl in. As her mother suspected the bird did nothing to cause chaos, but simply dropped the piece of parchment in Rose's hand and flew away. " Go on open it" said her mother. Rose was skeptical and turned to look at her mother who gave her a reassuring nod that nothing bad would happen if she did. She took a breath and slowly unrolled the parchment. While her step father was still confused, her mom came up behind her and slowly read the letter quietly over Roses's shoulder while she read it allowed,

Dear Ms. Annabella Elizabeth Rose Jacob,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. All items on supply list can be purchased at Diagon Alley. Term begins on the 1st of September. We await your owl no later than July 31st

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall,

Deputy Headmistress

   "What what does this mean mom" Rose said dumbfounded by what she just read. Accepted into a school for witchcraft an wizardry? Me? It has to be some mistake, Rose thought to herself. As if her mom had read her mind she responded, "This isn't a mistake Rose." Meredith took a deep breath, "There's something I have been keeping from you. Both of you. Rose you should probably take a seat for this. You too Thomas" she said to her step father, her eyes gesturing to the kitchen table. He and Rose slowly moving to the kitchen table, Thomas still looking as if he had just saw a cow in the house. "Meredith what's going on?" She took a deep breath before she began her very long explanation.

  "Rose your father warned me about this. You see your father was a wizard. A fairly decent one in fact. You are what they call in the wizarding world, "half blood" because your father is from a long line of wizards and I am not I am what they call a "muggle " it's their term for a normal human being, after he left Hogwarts he tried to become an auror and failed, he came to the muggle world and that's where we met and had you but your father was long gone by the time you were 2. I do not know where he went I just woke up day and he was gone. He left nothing but a letter. However he said in the letter that this would happen. That when you turn 11 you will possibly be given the chance to learn at the wizarding school where he did. You see Rose I knew from the moment you turned five that this day would come. I saw it in your eyes, that same glimmer of hope your dad had when I first met him. That day I knew you were going to be like him. Of course I know all of this is very hard to wrap your head around. But if you do wish to go I will allow you to. I will take you to get your books and robs and your wand- yes you get a wand Rose it was all explained in the letter he left, and I will walk you to the Kings Cross station so you can go and learn magic, that is if you really want to Rose the choice is yours."

   Rose was at a loss for words. All of this has come so sudden she wasn't quite sure what she wanted. But she knew one thing for sure. She would be somewhere Thomas wasn't. She would finally get away from the pain he gives her, emotional, verbal and physical. For how long that didn't matter to her. She didn't care where she would have to stay, she didn't care what she would be learning and she didn't even care how far from home she would be. All she knew was pain would finally stop because she would be there and he wouldn't. To her the choice was clear.

" I want to go."