Mud-Blood

Esme 3

Lunch had come and everyone headed to the Great Hall. Esme walked with Hermione, she was invited to sit with the Gryffindors. She sat down with Hermione and two boys ahead of her stared deeply into her soul "Are you lost or is Hermione being held hostage?" The ginger boy narrowed his eyebrows "No, this is Esme Jones, she is not what she seems that's for sure" Esme giggled as she looked that them, one of the boys wore round glasses and had an odd scar on his forehead, like a lightning bolt "Well, if Hermione trusts you, we trust you. This is Ron and Im Harry" Esme shook their hands "So what makes you so special?" Ron asked "I'm a muggle-born Slytherin. That's all, so not really special" Both of the boys' eyes widened, Ron was already stuffing his face with food "That is not possible is it Hermione?" Harry asked "I didn't think it was but she is now living proof it is possible, she is rare" Harry smiled at Esme, his smile was warming and kind and Esme got butterflies from how he looked at her. Her eyes defocused off Harry and looked behind him and saw Draco staring at her from across the room from the Slytherin table, his eyes looked darker than normal, like he was trying to hunt prey, he had his fork clenched in his hand, stabbing it into his food as he looked away. "So Esme, are you up for butter beer later this evening?" Harry asked "Butter beer? What's that?" She leaned in to hear him over the loud chatter in the room "You don't know what butter beer is? Are you crazy?" She took his words personally, she was always called crazy. "No, but sure I'll come, will it be the four of us?"
"I was just wanting you to come, with me" His smile became more intense and she could tell he was nervous "Oh, I mean we just met, but yeah okay"
"You just seem interesting and I want to get to know you more"
"That sounds nice actually, no one has ever said that to me, thank you, Harry" She smiled and then filled her plate with some food. They all talked and ate, Esme finally didn't think about Draco and how much he made her so angry, she found people she could talk to and open up to, they felt like family. After lunch, Hermione and Esme had potions together so they walked to the classroom and both sat down, she was happy she didn't show up late this time. The Professor was scary-looking, he had black shoulder-length hair and he wore a black robe. The classroom was lit with hanging lanterns since there were no windows, the dungeons were a very scary place, they made Esme's head spin, something about her being down there triggered the voices, she just sat there and stared down at her lap. She  scratched at her thigh where old scars were, she tended to wear pants but skirts were ideal. Her fingers traced her scars from when she would scratch at herself, her breathing quickened as emotions started to flood her head, her nails dug deeper without her realizing and her head was rushed with voices, degrading her again. "You are nothing" And "Kill yourself you worthless mud blood" Panic set in, she had to remain calm on the outside so no one suspected a thing, she felt frozen in time and she dug her nails deeper into the scar to try and get her to snap out of the trance. Blood started to rise to the surface and leak down her thigh "Esme you're bleeding!" Hermione grabbed her shoulder to shake her "What-" Esme triple blinked then looked at Hermione "Your thigh" Her face looked concerned and she looked down at her thigh "Shit" She stood up "Professor may I be excused" Her voice was shaky as she tried to hold the blood in her palm as it covered her thigh, everyone started staring "Is it the mud blood's time of the month?" A Slytherin boy said as he laughed and looked at Draco for approval, laughing erupted from everyone except Hermione and Draco. Esme looked over at the boy with anger and embarrassment "Enough Goyle...go...quickly Miss Jones" Esme looked at Draco and his face had a concerned look as he tried to look over people's heads to see the bloody mess. Esme ran out of the classroom holding her tears in, she promised herself she needed to stop giving them the reaction they wanted but it was so hard, they made her remember those days when these scars were fresh, the day her parents died and she was alone and stranded, scared and treated like nothing, exactly what they see of her still, nothing. She ran into the girls' lavatory, turned the sink on and started to ball, tears dropped into the sink "Why, just leave me alone" She looked into the mirror "I'm over it, why bring me back" Her vision became blurry, she started to see the day her parents died, them on the floor, lifeless. She shook her head to clear up the vision. She unrolled some toilet paper from the toilet stall, dipped it into the water, sat on the floor and wiped the opened scar, wincing at the pain. After she stopped the bleeding she had to act like nothing happened after she was publicly humiliated. She walked back into the classroom and sat down "Are you alright?" Hermione asked "Yes, I'm okay"
"Do you need...a pad?" She asked quietly and politely "Oh, no it wasn't that, I just scratched too hard"
"That was a lot of blood though, are you sure you're okay?" Esme smiled "I'm okay now"
"Brilliant" Hermione opened her school books and was already working on her studies for classes they hadn't even had yet. "Now...I am Professor Severus Snape, I will be your potions Professor. Now I will be placing you all in groups to practise with some of the equipment" Esme had enough of the panic she was feeling, she just sucked it up and took the punches. Severus put everyone in groups and Esme hadn't had a group yet, she hoped Severus had forgotten about her "Esme I almost forgot, you go with...Draco's group" Her eyes widened "Fuck my life" She whispered to herself as she stood up and walked to the table where Draco, Pansy, Goyle and two random Hufflepuffs were sitting "Great, little mud blood is in our group," Pansy said as she leaned her elbows on the table, resting her chin in her palm as Goyle snorted. "Trust me, I hate it just as much as you do Pansy" Pansy shot her head toward Esme and stood up straight "Who told you to speak? anyone?" Pansy looked at the people at the table "Exactly, no one, now let's get to work shall we?" She gave an evil smile as she touched Draco's arm, Esme rolled her eyes. Pansy was so focused on Draco that she forgot there were others there, she kept hogging all the supplies and doing everything for that blonde prick. Esme started to gain less patience with everything, she reached over the table, grabbed a vile and as she pulled her arm back she knocked a book onto the floor, she used one hand to lean it the table as she picked it up. Pansy saw Esme and had a very stupid but exciting idea "Watch this" She whispered to Draco as she pretended to accidentally spill acid on Esme's hand, Draco thought it was just water, something less harmful so he tried to hide a laugh. Esme shot up and screamed in pain, the most gut-wrenching scream anyone had heard, the whole class froze and started to search for the panicked girl. She held her blistered and boiled hand, Draco's face went from a smile to worry "What did you do!?" He asked Pansy in a panic "I did nothing" She held her giggle in as she held her hand to her mouth. Severus ran over "What...happened?" He asked "I-I don't know! fuck it hurts" Esme started to cry as the sharp pain started to rise into her arm "How did this happen?" Severus grabbed her hand and looked at the students at the table, they all looked down and didn't say anything "Malfoy...?" He slowly said as his gaze reached Draco. Esme looked at Draco with tears in her eyes, hoping he had the answer, for once she depended on him for help "I don't know...Professor" His eyes dropped to his feet and his face showed guilt. "Let's go" He dragged Esme out of the classroom and took her to the Hospital Wing as she was still crying and trying to keep up with Severus, tripping over her feet.