Gypsy

Chapter Two

Second Year

Age: 13

Sobbing I ran behind one of the pillars overlooking the Lake and fell to the ground, the only people around were the ones who had just finished their daily game of 'Make Antoinette miserable'. As usual it was silently led by the seemingly kind, to everybody but me, Riddle. For over a year now I had endured the constant insults about my 'dirty' blood, and how I was going to be eradicated along with the rest of my kind. At first the insults hadn't really gotten to me, having endured much worse at Dachau.

But then it slowly escalated from Malfoy's, as I came to call the blond boy, constant name calling, to curses and hexes. Riddle was never one to cast the curses himself, seeming content to simply watch me make trip after trip to the hospital wing to be healed. The mediwitch still didn't suspect anything was afoul, assuming that I was simply another clumsy Hufflepuff.

"Oh Tony, what did they do now." Lanky arms came around me, Jeremy tucking my head into his chest as he sat down nest to me.

Jeremy and Jennifer were my closest friends in Hufflepuff; thankfully the hatred towards my blood only went so far as the Slytherin house and perhaps a few Ravenclaws. It was the fact that I was singled out, and in effect any who associated with me, that made me unpopular within my own house.

"Why do they hate me so much, Jeremy?" I unclenched my hands and showed him the damage, Goyle had cast a nasty little pus hex that left my hands in agony. The white pulsing lines and boils that the hex left behind showed in start relief against my tanned skin.

Hissing in anger, Jeremy grabbed his wand and muttered a quick spell over them. The boils stopped popping up, but it would take a few days for them to disappear. He was amazingly talented at healing spells; I knew he would become an acclaimed Mediwizard one day. I wasn't so good at spells, preferring to spend my time learning about the plants and animals in the world.

"Ignorance." He kissed the top of my head, a brotherly gesture but I blushed anyway. "I don't understand why you won't tell Dippit what's going on, or at least Dumbledore."

Sighing, I tested out my injured hands, finding I could move them without too much pain. "You know why."

"They would believe you if we showed them what those bastards have done to you," ground out Jeremy.

"We both know Riddle would come up with some excuse, telling them I often worked with dangerous plants and animals and that's where I got the injuries." For all his faults Riddle was brilliant, "then he would make himself look the victim and me the evil witch."

Jeremy didn't say anything, he didn't have to, we both knew that Riddle would get off without punishment.

"I know Dumbledore thinks something is off about Riddle. Have you seen the way he watches him?"

"Yeah, I do wonder what all that is about."

We had been over this conversation several times, even toyed with the idea of spying on Riddle to get the evidence we would need to see him punished. But in the end we were Hufflepuffs, it was best to leave the scheming up to those snarky snakes.

"I was wondering where you two snuck off to," Jenny rounded the corner, her freckled cheeks rosy in the winter air. "Tony, what happened to your hands?"

Storming forward the Hufflepuff who often seemed better suited for Gryffindor, grabbed my hands and forced me to show her the marks. "Bloody hell, I'm going to kill those bastards."

Jeremy mocked a gasp, "What would mother say about your language?"

Poking out her tongue, Jenny released my hands. "I know exactly what she would say, 'Jennifer Aurora Bones, young ladies do not use language like that. You will never find a husband speaking like that.'"

Laughing I stood up, feeling a little resistance when Jeremy seemed reluctant to release me, but he soon copied.

Suddenly the mood sobered and Jenny's face fell into a mask, I didn't have to guess who was walking past us.

"Blood traitors," hissed Malfoy at Jenny and Jeremy, "wait until I inform your mother about the compony you keep."

He glared at me; cringing I backed slowly into Jeremy; he put a comforting hand around my waist.

"Get some new material, Malfoy. You told my mother about my 'compony' last year; what's wrong, is your inbred mind having trouble remembering facts. I wouldn't doubt it, considering your academic record." If there was one thing Jenny could do it was cut a person down.

Malfoy turned bright red as some of his followers tittered behind him, brandishing his wand he snarled, "You will wish you had never been born."

Jenny yanked out her wand, "trust me, with a mother like mine I already do."

Jeremy wasn't helping his sister, he didn't need to. Jenny was one of the best duellers in our year, a fact Malfoy had obviously forgotten as she quickly disarmed him.

Spluttering, he backed up a step.

"Anyone else?" tauntingly, Jenny flourished her wand, some of the younger snakes backed up with Malfoy.

Throughout this entire exchange, a set of eyes hadn't left me.

"You don't have the right to look at Tony, Riddle." Jeremy had noticed the silent Slytherin watching me, so he pushed me behind him.

Smirking, Riddle tilted his head. "You can't be around to protect her forever, sooner or later you will leave this school and then she will be all alone."

Jeremy was shaking; I soothingly ran a hand down his back like I might do to an irate owl. Shockingly it worked, beneath my hand muscles visibly relaxed and quickly lost their aggression. Riddle watched the exchange with thinly veiled interest, quirking a brow when he observed the furious badger calm down in a matter of seconds.

"Just get out of here." Jeremy didn't bother saying any names, all the Slytherins in Riddles posse knew he meant them.

Rather than edge his followers on, Riddle instead inclined his head and walked away, his men glaring back but leaving as well.

"That was weird," Jenny lowered her wand, having expected more of a fight.

Jeremy and I mumbled 'yeah' at the same time, blushing when we met the others eyes. Snorting in an unladylike manner, Jenny linked her arms with ours and marched us towards the Great Hall.

"Come on lovebirds," we blushed again, "time to get some dinner."