I blinked, processing the words Carlene had written. ‘What?’ I mouthed, completely shocked. Carlene just faced palmed and started scribbling on the notepad again. ‘I said you’re a werewolf’ My eyes bulged at that sentence, that couldn’t be true. It just couldn’t be. I am a human, a normal human being except for the fact that I could communicate with dementors and that I had absolutely no hearing at all. ‘You’re lying,’ I signed to Luna desperately, ‘Please tell me your lying’ Luna just shook her head helplessly. ‘I wish I could tell you I was,’ she signed, ‘But I’m not’ I hugged my knees and sat up straighter. Processing everything I had just heard: I was a werewolf now. Not a human. Now, once every month, I was going to transform. Transform into one of those big ugly creatures, with their raver sharp teeth and eyes that were too scary to even land in your nightmares. And it was all Luna’s fault. I felt a sudden wildfire of anger rise against her now. How could she? How could Luna have bitten me? After everything we’ve been together. I clenched my fists so hard that I felt the nails digging deeply into my skin, then released them to start signing. ‘How dare you, Luna,’ I signed furiously, my hands moving at a pace I never knew I could control, ‘How dare you turn me into this monster!’ I saw the others take a little step back, their faces looking confused and awkward about me lashing out. But I didn’t care, not at this moment that was. Luna’s face faltered as my words hit her. Her eyes were downcast as if she didn’t want see my signs anymore. Feeling frustrated, I threw a pillow at her, maybe causing a gasp from Pandora. I slid out of the bed, wobbling a bit as I tried to find my balance. Then, without warning I walked over to Luna and slapped her as hard as I could. My hand burned from the contact; a faint red mark shaped as my hand appeared on Luna’s face. I felt the most silence I ever had. Even while being fully deaf this seemed eerily deafening. I cautiously stepped back, the guilt swallowing me almost immediately. I didn’t know what to say or what to think. Unable to look at Luna’s face more, I turned on my heel, sprinting out of the hospital wing as carefully and quickly as I could. I tried not to stumble since my leg did fully quite heal yet from that werewolf bite. I didn’t know where I was going or what my destination was, I just kept running. The halls blurred around me; the moving portraits seem to blend in with the walls. ‘You’re a werewolf, Inka’ The words written in Carlene’s handwriting still haunted me, they told me I wasn’t humane, and I proved them right; by slapping Luna. I wanted to scream, to hit something, to put out all my anger on but that would just prove me more inhumane. Suddenly, I felt my legs give out. I tried to stabilize myself, to keep myself up but that didn’t help. I yelped as I collapsed. Closing my eyes and bracing myself, I prepared to hit the hard floor with a thud but instead of breaking my head from the hardness of the floor, I felt a single pair of hands catch me. I blinked open my eyes, only to be met by a boy. At first, he looked like Harry, except without glasses and eyes that reminded me of the night I plunged into those icy cold waters. ‘You’re really on the smaller side’ I read his lips as he pushed me up to stand straight. I blinked in confusion. The boy grinned slightly but he raised an eyebrow and moved his lips to ask a question that I couldn’t read. He asked the question again. He was clearly unable to understand that I was deaf. I shook my head, then pointed to my ears. Maybe this would make him understand. But this didn’t. Instead, he moved his mouth to form a different question. I sighed, feeling frustration surge through me again. I didn’t have the energy to go through this right now, not after everything that had just happened. ‘I’m deaf,’ I mouthed slowly, hoping that he could read my lips, ‘I can’t hear you’ The boy formed an ‘O’ shape with his mouth. Now understanding, he dug into the pockets of his scarlet-red Gryffindor robes and pulled out a parchment and quill. ‘I’m sorry for my misunderstanding,’ he wrote apologetically, ‘I’m Jack. Jack Potter’ I stared at the notepad for a second. Potter? This must’ve been James Potter’s cousin or something. I never remembered Harry mentioning that his father had a brother. ‘Inka Granger’ I scribbled ‘Inka... That’s a pretty name, just like you’ _____ Continued in N/C
I raised my eyebrow. It was clear that Jack was trying to flirt with me. I didn’t mind though, ever since I had broken up with Theo, I received multiple requests from boys in fourth and sixth years asking me out. Jack’s face turned as red as the Chinese flag. He grabbed the quill we shared and wrote, ‘Sorry, that sounded so weird. I just had an argument with my brother so I’m just saying random things at the moment’ ‘Understandable, who is your brother by the way? If you don’t mind me asking’ I wrote neatly Jack's face remained flushed as he glanced down at the notepad before writing, his hand slightly shaking. ‘His name is James,’ he wrote, ‘James Potter’ The realization hit me like a tidal wave. So, Harry did have an uncle. But then why wasn’t he sent to live with him instead of the Dursleys? Maybe he had died before his parents did? ‘Oh,’ I wrote slowly, ‘I have siblings too. Four of them actually, but they’re in-‘ I stopped my hand from moving as the flashbacks of Hermione’s dead body haunted my mind. I remembered my last words to her, the ones that couldn’t be changed, the ones that couldn’t be taken back. Tears threatened to spill out of me, I dropped the quill in a haste and closed my eyes. Taking deep breaths to calm myself. But that didn’t help, once I closed my eyes I saw the vision of the cold, sleeping from of Hermione, knowing that she would never wake up from the slumber of death. Jack picked up the quill, noticing my change of demeanor . ‘It’s ok,’ he wrote, his handwriting gentle to match his expressions, ‘You don’t have to say if you don’t want to’ I reached my hands for the quill, wanting to say my opinions. ‘It’s fine,’ I lied. It wasn’t fine. Nothing was fine, ‘They’re in Ilvenmory, I just miss them… very much’ Another lie. They weren’t in Ilvenmory, they weren’t even real at this time. Jack’s eyes soften as he read my notes. ‘I’m sorry,’ he mouthed slowly, ‘If you ever want to talk about it more then you can talk to me’ I nodded. ‘I’m just going to walk back to my dorm. I just need to… cope with stuff’ I wrote, giving the quill back to Jack . ‘I can walk you back’ Jack offered. His handwriting giving me a welcoming sort of hope. I nodded again as Jack put the parchment and quill back in his pockets. And as we walked back to my common room I noticed that maybe, maybe, I’m not alone. __________ Jack trying to flirt with Inka be like… Carlene: @Carli_Weasley
