My Anaconda Don't

[Stella Lagowski]

Hogwarts was huge. The magical castle boasted several towers, more corridors than you could count, and its very own quidditch pitch, and yet still Stella Lagowski would not stray from the fourth floor. As an actress in the Muggle world, the young girl was familiar with gossip and rumours, but that didn't make her time at the Wizarding school any easier. It didn't help that her Muggle upbringing had prepared her very little for the life ahead, and despite reading countless books in the library, she was still struggling with practical work. This, of course, had been picked up by several of her fellow classmates, who were taking great delight in mocking her failures and struggles. It just wasn't fair. The ache in Stella's heart only intensified as she thought of her Mother and Father. Okay, they weren't perfect, but they loved her, didn't they? Stella sighed, staring out of the window of the student lounge and blinking rapidly to dry the tears in her eyes. It was no use. She couldn't possibly stay here, not with students jeering at her every time she failed to cast a simple spell. Not with this longing to return back to the life she was so familiar with. Acting was Stella's passion, and she was going to do everything within her power to pursue it.

An intriguing sight in the corner of the room brought Stella back to her senses. A young boy, no older than herself, was sat in a chair, staring intently into an old book. From her position, Stella could just make out the image of a twisting serpent on its leather cover. She shuddered, feeling as though it was sliding up her spine. Snakes were creepy. Even more so was the boy holding the book, with his dark eyes and nervous demeanour. Stella looked around, her eyes falling over a few Hufflepuff girls who had been mocking her earlier that week. This was her chance! Her chance to stand up for herself, to prove that she wasn't weak. Besides, if she was caught by a Professor, she would surely get into trouble, and trouble was exactly what she needed to get herself out of Hogwarts. Ignoring the racing of her heart, Stella stood up with confidence. Being an actress certainly had its benefits, as she sidled over to the boy without faltering. "What's that?" She asked loudly, stopping in front of the boy and snatching the book from his hands. She held it up in front of her, reading it out in a slow and deliberate voice. "Snakes commonly prey on small to medium sized mammals, but will also eat insects," She lowered the book, sneering. "You'd better watch out then, hadn't you?" Stella snickered, pleased with the condescending tone with which she had mocked him. A few giggles travelled around the room as the students looked on. Stella felt amazing. Empowered. Excited. Why hadn't she thought to do this before?

 

[Hamish Kaster]

Hamish had curled himself up into a tight ball, deciding that he would do some reading today. He was not in the mood to be with other people, and had had a bad sleep. Therefore, the young Slytherin decided that he would bury himself in a book today. Unfortunately, the last time he found himself in the library, he was subjected to numerous books falling on top of him, and while the older girl had not meant it, he decided that perhaps the lounge would be best. He had a large book that he had collected from the library to read - about snakes - in an attempt to see if it had anything on what he was. All he knew was that he could talk to snakes. He couldn't just go asking people, so he had to find it all himself. He couldn't talk to animals though, it was only the legless, scaly, poisonous ones that no-one liked because, to be honest, they even freaked him out. He looked around the room, which was otherwise abandoned, and picked the emptiest corner to sit in. He dropped into the chair there and settled himself, before opening the book in his lap, and beginning to read through it, following the words with his finger. Not being the most impressive reader, there were times he simply ignored words as they seemed a little complicated, but otherwise, it only seemed to be talking about the life cycle of snakes. He knew he wasn't a snake.

Hamish looked up slowly when he assumed that, whomever was talking, was talking to him. That seemed to be happening a lot lately. He tried to look as uninviting as possible, but it never seemed to work. Before he could form words, she had taken the book from him and read a line from it, before appearing to need to sneeze. He immediately began searching for a tissue, and found one beside him on the table. However, he frowned slightly when she spoke, instead of sneezed, and was kind of being a b!tch. Others seemed just as pleased as she did, and the Slytherin found himself looking around the room in total confusion, not understanding what was happening at all. "W-w-what?" The tissue dropped, and he stared at her with wide eyes.
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[Stella Lagowski]

Stella felt guilty only for a moment as the boy looked up at her, wide eyed. She knew that look. She'd looked at people in that way before. Defenceless, and pleading silently for her bully to leave. Pushing this thought to the back of her mind, she continued to smirk. She had come this far now, and she had to prove to those other students that she was just as tough as they were. If she backed out now, they would be laughing at her as well as him. Stella abruptly closed the book with a loud thud, but she wasn't planning on giving it back. Perhaps she could get him into trouble for misplacing, or even better, defacing school property. "What?" Stella snapped, using her free hand to withdraw her wand from her robes. It wasn't as though she was going to use it, even if she'd known how to cast any useful spells. "Cat got your tongue? Oh no, sorry, it's a snake, isn't it?" Stella laughed harshly, tracing the image of a snake on the book's cover with her wand and making hissing noises.

As the boy held up a tissue, Stella jumped back in mock disgust. "Ew! He's trying to give me his snotty tissue!" She squealed loudly, making as much of a scene as she possibly could. More giggles echoed around the room. Bending down, she carefully hooked the tissue onto the end of her wand, holding it as far away from her as she possibly could. Then, she flicked her wand, allowing the tissue to fall onto the boy's lap. "Thanks, but you can keep your diseases," She said spitefully, wiping her wand clean on his robes before stepping back. This was too easy. Horribly easy, in fact. Where are you, Mom? Dad? Look what you've turned me into. I'm sorry. I just want to come home. I'm sorry.

 

[Hamish Kaster]

For perhaps a moment, the thought of going out and buying himself a snake that he could then tell to eat the girl was tempting. Very, very tempting. He had never had the urge to hurt another (other than his sister - but that was different) and it freaked him out. However, the comment on a snake having his tongue nearly sent him into an anxiety attack of which he had never experienced before. The young Slytherin could not fathom how she would know his relationships with snakes. He tried to reason with himself - she was probably just being a b!tch, and bringing the book into it. Maybe commenting on his House. Maybe she had a thing with snakes - he didn't want to know. He took a few deep breaths, in and out, trying not to freak out. He could not freak out right now. If he freaked, Merlin knew what would happen. It would just make everything worse. If he caused troubled, he would be branded a future Tamalia, and Lisa would kill him, it was as simple as that. The last thing he wanted was for people to expect him to try and beat the life out of another student - he did not need that kind of stigma on top of what he already got at home. He had a clean slate here and he was not about to tarnish it.

He held his tongue, for fear of what would emerge. Would her hissing trigger it? He had no idea what he sounded like when he went weird, but Bethany described it as hissing, but he doubted the girl was like him. He would have understood her. He looked around the room at the witnesses if he punched the girl, and decided against such a physical reaction. Not only would his sister kill him, but he would find himself in the office of his Head of House - he would rather suffer through this idiot than go near that man. After all, he was sure he could swallow the alphabet and come out with something better than transferable diseases to upset her. The tissue was from a box, for Merlin's sake. Personally, he'd verbally insult her face, but that was just him. He flicked the unused tissue from his lap sheepishly, avoiding looking her in the eyes. He picked his words carefully, and spoke to her softly. "Just," his voice wavered. "Leave me alone."
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