The Beauty Of A Broken Man

Making Friends With The Wrong Sort

The wind blew a long, red ringlet from my cheek as I stared out the half opened window. I gazed over the vast open fields as I raced by on a smooth and quiet train. I looked beyond the hills and thought about the world I once lived in, where magic was only an illusion. This train planned to take me back to a castle, but not just any castle.

Up until I was thirteen, I had attended a school in North America called Ilvermorny, Academy of Magics. When I was fourteen, I transferred to Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Both of my parents attended Hogwarts, so it was unknown as to why I started in America.

My mother, Kaori Kuran, was a Ravenclaw, one of the four houses of Hogwarts. My father, never named, was a Gryffindor. My mother told me he killed himself when I was two, but that was all she ever spoke of him. I had a faded picture of him when he was a seventh year at Hogwarts, so maybe I'd learn why my mother wanted to keep him a secret.

"Why do you have so much metal in your face?" My best friend, Gwen, asked me at the beginning of the year; every year.

"Because, it's just... me." I explained. I had snake bites, a nose ring, size zero gauges and a second set of earrings. Few people had piercings, but I've had them since I lived in America.

"Well, next year we graduate. As a sixth year, I would've half expected you to get rid of them by now," next to me, she was top of the Slytherin house.

"Being an adult doesn't mean shit." I said as I walked through the Great Hall doors and found a seat among the Slytherin table. I had no idea how I got into Slytherin, as none of my known ancestors were in it.

I felt a pair of eyes staring at me, so I glanced up in the general direction and scanned the teachers table until my eyes met a dark pair. They belonged to Severus Snape, the Potions Master and also my professor. He, obviously, taught potions, which was one of my favorite classes, to be completely honest. I blushed and turned back towards my plate, hoping that the glare would cease, which it didn't the duration of dinner.

I would be a liar if I said that mysterious man didn't intrigue me. In fact, I've had multiple intense dreams about him... don't judge. I came to the conclusion that it was just an infatuation and I would need to get him out of my mind, as it was morally wrong to have sexual dreams about my professor.

I walked to the common room after Dumbledore dismissed us to bed, when Draco Malfoy came up behind me and wrapped his arm around me, "hey, Beautiful."

"How many times must I inform you, I will not go out with a boy a year younger than I." I flung his arm from my side and continued walking.

"Innocent flirting never hurt anyone." He grinned and moved so he was right next to me.

"You, innocent? Don't make me laugh, Draco." We reached the common rooms when he said, "you're right, innocence is just another term for boring."

I laughed and replied, "then I guess you shouldn't like me, I'm a virgin and-" my smirk felt like it got smacked off when Snape came around the corner and interrupted, "and it's time for bed."

My face turned red with embarrassment before I said, "of course, Sir." Draco mumbled something under his breath and followed me inside the common room where we split and went to our separate dorms.

I got ready for bed and laid down before asking Gwen, "so, scope out the boys, yet?"

"Haven't you noticed? They're men, now," she replied seductively. "You can't possibly tell me no one has caught your eye."

"Sort of." I glanced around the room, not meeting her eyes.

"I can only guess." She raised her eyebrows, hinting at Draco.