Rose Lynn

"I presume you know how important OWLs are in your future?" he asked

I had a mouth-full of food, so I merely nodded. Luckily, I started school in two days, and then I'd be out of here until next summer.

"You'll be coming home for Christmas," he continued.

I nearly choked on my chicken. Things never went my way, never.

"Headmaster Snape is expecting a lot from you," he added.

I managed to swallow the bite. Had something happened to Dumbledore? I nodded again. Suddenly, I'd lost my appetite.

"You have always struggled when it comes to school work. Poors in almost every subject, and Dreadfuls in the others. Explain yourself."

"Well, Father..." I let my voice trail off. How was I suppose to tell him I could barely read?

"Spit it out, girl!" he said angrily. "I would like to solve this problem before you ruin yourself!"

"Sir, I don't know what to say." I hung my head in defeat.

"You have no reasons? Not even a well thought lie? You are stupider than I thought!"

I held in a sob. "I couldn't read, sir." It was a soft whisper. "I'm sorry, Father. It's not my fault. I just learned how. I hid it for years because I didn't want people to think I was dumb."

I hid my face in my hands, not wanting to see the look on his face. When I had finally told my friends, each had looked at me a different way. Anger, pity, disappointment, and sadness. If only I had told them sooner. Maybe I could have avoided this.

"WHAT!?! WHY EXACTLY DID YOU NOT TELL ME SOONER!?!"

I began to cry. I had no response.

"ANSWER ME!"

I looked up. "I just told you. People would think I was dumb. I decided not to make it worse."

"WORSE!?! WORSE! TOO RIGHT THIS IS WORSE! MY DAUGHTER IS ILLITERATE! DO EXPECT ME TO TAKE THIS LIGHTLY!?!"

I shook my head. My whole body was shaking, too.

"ANSWER ME!"

"No, sir." That was exactly why I wouldn't tell him. He was screaming again.

"YOU IDIOT! DO YOU REALIZE I'LL HAVE TO REMOVE YOU FROM HOGWARTS TO AVOID THE EMBARRASSMENT!?!"

"No, please, no," I whispered.

"UP TO YOUR ROOM! I DO NOT WISH TO SEE YOUR FACE FOR THE REST OF THE EVENING!"

My torture began the next day. The day I met my tutor.

"My name is Theodore," he said. "I have no idea why your brother asked me to take this job, but I need the work."

"I've talked to you before," I said. "In the library at school."

"Ah, I see you have met the gentleman I hired. This is my daughter, Rose Lynn, Nott. I was hoping it would be easier to learn from someone closer to her age."

Personally, I just felt bizarre. Theodore had seemed nice enough during my first three years, but I would have never guessed he'd be teaching me.

Theodore seemed as confused by the situation as I was. His face turned red as soon as I had entered Malfoy's study. Whether he was simply caught off guard or truly shocked that I was a Malfoy, I knew not.

"Shall we start then? Do you the letters?"

"A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N. Um, is it P, O or O, P?"

"Um, every interesting. Numbers?"

"1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 ,17, 18, 19 20."

"Do you know more?"

"Of course! I've always liked them. They are really important."

Malfoy cut in. "As are letters and words. Nott, I believe you know what you need to know. The house elf will see you out."

Theodore nodded and walked out the room. Malfoy sat in the large chair at his desk. "Sit. Not a word from you, now."

The little wood chair in front of his desk was hard, but I sat on it anyway.

"Straight back, Rose Lynn. I will not have bad posture in this family."

I improved instantly. After yesterday, I decided that I would try to redeem some of my pride.

He placed a small book on my head. "Stand. If the book falls, we will start again."

I stood carefully. The book wobbled slightly, but luckily, did not fall.

"Walk to me."

I did, slowly. I longed make sure my feet where in the right places, but looking down would cause the book to slip.

"Very good. Back to the chair."

I closed my eyes and prayed the book would not fall. I sat down again, and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Try it with these on." Malfoy pulled out a pair of heeled sandals.

I tried and failed several times. I twisted my angle the last time.

"We will work on this again after dinner." He picked up the too-small trainers. "I will depose of these. Run along, now."

I could hardly walk. Running was out of the question, of course. These shoes, if you could call them that, where extreme uncomfortable. If this is what being a pure-blood ment, I did not want to be one.