The Phoenicans

*~ Chapter 2 - Seeing Is Believing ~*

Then the scene changes,

And your life rearranges.

I want to help but I'm standing still.

Seeing is believing, but believe I never will.

Seeing is believing,

Seeing is believing.

Seeing Is Believing - Dreamkaste

"Now repeat after me, a blah blah blah blah..."

"Blah blah blah blah..." Jessica droned, following the dreary Potions Master's voice. She slumped forward resting her head on her hands. She was tired, and the dimmed lights of the Hogwarts dungeons weren't helping.

'I'm so bored,' she thought to herself. Her eyelids softly fluttered closed and she began to dream.

*~-~*

An eerie tune began to play, and in the distance two figures illuminated the dance floor. One was wearing dress robes of white, the other black. The one in white had long, blood red tresses, while the other, in black, had blonde. The setting changed swiftly. Now the room was grandly furnished. A name was mentioned. A blue figure appeared in a doorway.

"Go away," the white one cried. "Leave us alone!"

The blue figure entered the room, the face all blurred apart from a lightning bolt scar on the forehead which shone. The scene changed again. The woman in white was rocking a cradle and singing to a small child.

"Staring at these painted walls.

Their secrets seem to reach out

and touch you.

Corrupting your innocence.

Contaminating your mind."

Her voice was soft but powerful, like an untold secret.

"Secrets stretching out

and touching your skin,

caressing your head,

invading the silence of your fears.

The deceived truth, hushing your tears,

sending them inwards.

Where the secrets that these wall possesses

still hide."

The white figure bent down and kissed the baby. Silently, she sat down and began to read a book. She began to turn the pages faster and faster and faster until all that could be seen was a blur, then it stopped. A scream, then silence. A red figure exited the room, while the figure draped in white lay there, in a pool of her own blood. The wind blew the figure's beautiful, red hair off her face.

It was Marii.

*~-~*

"Marii," Jessica cried.

"What is the meaning of this Miss Patil," a voice snarled, chilling the young girl.

"I saw Marii," Jessica began not bothering to look at the person addressing her. "Lying on the floor, covered in blood!"

"Look at me when you speak," the person spat.

Slowly, Jessica raised her head and met the eyes of her Potions Master.

"Now, what did you say?"

"I saw Marii," Jessica began again, looking deep into the Potion Master's eyes. "Lying on the floor, covered in blood!"

Everything went silent, Jessica could feel everyone's eye boring into her. Then someone snorted. People began to follow, laughing at her.

"She's crazy," someone shouted.

"A disgrace to Ravenclaw," stated a fellow Ravenclaw.

"She thinks she's a seer," her cousin, Padma, whispered to a friend.

"She was probably kicked out of her old school," a Hufflepuff stated.

"Stop it," Jessica cried, choking back tears. "Stop laughing, it's not funny."

Then the bell went. Jessica stood up, knocking over her cauldron. There was a large explosion, followed by more laughter. Jessica dried her eyes on her sleeve, picked up her books and ran.

*~-~*

Marii glanced at her watch and continued to run. Faster and faster she ran, her hair stretched back behind her as she made her way to her first potions class.

'Second day of lessons and I'm already late,' she thought to herself as she ran down the steps, which Parvati had said led to the Dungeons. She rounded a corner and paused.

"...O.W.L.s this year. We will be learning some of the more complicated potions such as..." she heard a voice drone.

Marii began to run towards the voice. Finally she was at a door. She could hear the voice on the other side. Slowly, she turned the handle and entered.

*~-~*

Faster and faster she ran, her acid green robes were swirling around her legs. She turned the corner and stopped. She looked around, realising that she was lost, and late to her next class.

"Hey, look," a young girl whispered. "That's the girl who thinks she's a Seer!"

A group of young Hufflepuffs crowded around her, and soon the hall was filled with their giggles.

"Leave me alone!" she whispered, picking up her belongings. Then she ran, leaving the taunts far behind her.

'Why do people always laugh?' she questioned herself.

"Uh, excuse me," a deep voice muttered. "Do you know the way to the library?"

Spinning around, she halted. She turned to face the speaker. He was tall, and well built. He had dark hair which hid light blue eyes. He wore the black robes of Hogwarts and had the crest of the snake house on the left side of his chest.

"Sorry, I don't know where the library is here." She said as she extended her right hand. "I'm Jessica, and I'd be glad to help you find it."

Jessica waited for the reply from the large guy in front of her. But nothing happened. Jessica slowly lowered her hand, turned around, and walked away.

"Wait!" he cried out. Jessica turned around to see he was running to catch up to her. "I'm Vincent Crabbe, but you can call me Vince."

Once more, Jessica extended her hand, and he took it.

"Pleased to meet ya, Vince," Jessica said to her new friend, overdoing her accent.

"Uh, Jessica-" Vince began, releasing her hand.

"Call me Jess," Jessica interrupted.

"Jess, then," Vince began once again. "Where are you from, I don't understand your accent."

"I'm from Down Under." Jessica smiled at Vince's bemused expression. "You know... Australia."

"Oh." He trailed off looking embarrassed. "I'm s-sorry"

"That's okay," Jessica smiled at him. Taking his hand, she led him forwards. "Let's try and find the library."

*~-~*

Marii silently opened the door, slipped through, then closed it behind her.

"Welcome to Potions, Miss Patil," a sharp voice barked at her. "40 points from Gryffindor for your tardiness."

Marii reached into her pocket and pulled out some papers. She confidently strode up to her new Potions Master and gave him the papers. She watched as he carefully studied them, his forehead creased with concentration as he read the important papers.

"Well, then, Miss Patil," he sneered, handing back her notes. "We'll see how brilliant you are when your Potions Master isn't incompetent. You may sit down now."

Marii wandered down the aisle which seemed to separate the Gryffindors from the Slytherins. She saw a space next to a round faced boy and walked up to him.

"C-can I sit here?" she stuttered nervously. She could feel the Potion Master's eyes boring into his back.

"Yeah," he replied, moving over.

Marii sat down next to the boy and grabbed her potions book out of her bag.

"Now before Miss Patil interrupted," the Professor drawled on. "Today's lesson will be a practical. We will be preparing an animal transmogrification potion, more commonly known as an animal polyjuice. Now, can anyone tell me the similarities between the original polyjuice potion and it's animal counterpart?"

Marii's hand shot up, battling against two other hands to answer the question. One of them belonged to a girl from her dormitory, Parvati had called her a bossy know-it-all. She had bushy brown hair pulled back into a messy ponytail. With her other hand, Marii fingered her deep red hair which she had drawn into plaits. Marii noted that the other hand belonged to a person with white-blonde hair.

'Melissa?' Marii questioned herself. 'No, she's back at the academy.'

"Mr. Malfoy," Marii heard the Professor drawl at the fair boy. "Can you tell me the similarities between the original polyjuice potion and it's animal counterpart?"

Marii dropped her hand and began to study the boy. He was a Malfoy, related to Melissa perhaps. 'Well, if he is related to Melissa he is probably just like her. Rude, narcissistic and nasty,' Marii thought to herself. He was in Slytherin, and according to her cousins, Slytherin was a house of evil.

"Now copy down the list of ingredients and the method, then begin"

*~-~*

"The snitch was nearly in his grasp," Vincent said, then he lowered his voice to a whisper. "Then Potter pushed him and grabbed the snitch for himself."

"Really?" Jessica questioned her new friend. "But I thought that Harry Potter was supposed to be a hero?"

"Yeah, everyone thinks that," Vincent mumbled. "But he's been really nasty to Draco since they first met."

"Oh," was all Jessica could say to that. After all, wasn't Harry Potter supposed to be a hero, to be nice to people, not hurt them? She knew it was stereotypical, and she knew how it felt, but somehow, Vincent's words seemed truthful.

"Hey, Jess," Vincent shouted, waving a hand in front of her face. "Are you there?"

"Yeah, just thinking," she replied, looking up. "Hey, is that the library?"

*~-~*

"Do you want me to do anything?" the boy next to her asked for the umpteenth.

'Yeah,' Marii thought to herself. 'For you to stop pestering me.'

"No, thank you," she replied, receiving another glare from the boy with blonde hair. The boy she was working with shrieked then hurriedly looked away.

'Honestly,' Marii thought, looking on her desk for the wormwart. 'Oh, I don't seem to have any in my stock.' She looked around the classroom and noticed a large pile of it on the blonde's desk.

"Oi, Blondie!"

*~-~*

"I'll never find it!" Pansy groaned, pawing through her back pack for her favorite quill.

"Oi, Blondie!" someone shouted, making Pansy spin towards the direction of the voice. It was that red-headed girl that Draco kept on glaring at.

"What do you want, Patil?" Draco said coolly, his voice was completely drawl-less.

"Can I borrow some wormwart?" she shouted at him. "I'll trade you for feathers."

"Okay," Draco answered, scooping up some wormwart into a jar.

'Feathers!' Pansy thought to herself. 'What's so good about feathers,'

"Pick one for a quill Pansy," Draco drawled, banging a large jar down besides their cauldron. Pansy peered into the jar, amazed with what was inside.

"Phoenix feathers," Draco stated.

Pansy unscrewed the jar and pulled out a red and gold feather. It was exquisite. She ran the soft feather through her fingers, thriving on the sensations that filled her body.

'Like liquid fire,' she thought to herself.

"This one," she said, her voice quivering. She felt Draco draw the feather from her hand and mumble a quick spell. Then he withdrew another one from the jar, said the spell then pocketed it.

"Don't get too attached Pansy," Draco muttered to her. "Not all phoenix feathers come from phoenixes."

*~-~*

"And then what?" Jessica questioned. No one had ever paid Vince this much attention before.

"Well," he began. "All three of us snuck out when a scratchy voice called out 'Who's out of bed?' We tried to run past when the voice's owner caught us. Draco then told him that we were on our way to tell him that we had heard someone was going to be dueling in the trophy room. It was the first time Draco saved all three of us, but not the last."

"Wow," Jessica said. "I'll have to meet Draco sometime, and Greg of course."

Vince smiled at this, this girl was actually interested in what he had to say.

"Do you play quidditch?" She questioned, rapidly changing the topic.

"No," Vince answered sadly. "But I'm trying out for the team this year."

"What position?"

"Keeper," he said proudly.

"I play that position!" she said in surprise.

"Maybe we could train together..." He trailed off. He had never really been friends with a girl before, most just thought he was stupid, or just ignored him.

"That would be great," she said, then she began to ramble on about how she needed to improve on her catching.

"Okay then, 6:00?" Vince said.

"It's a date."

*~-~*

"Don't get too attached, Pansy, not all phoenix feathers come from phoenixes."

"Not all phoenix feathers come from phoenixes," Pansy mumbled to herself, repeating what Draco had said earlier today. Slowly, she got up off her bed and tiptoed to the door. She pulled it open, trying not to make it creak.

"-then he kissed her," a young voice, coming from the third year's room, shrieked. It was followed by girls giggling.

Pansy slid out of her room and walked quietly towards the common room. She had never liked the common room, with it's green couches and cold, stone floor. She hated the colour green, even though she was surrounded by it. She sniffed the air; it smelt stale. Just like it was when she first entered the common room, tightly clutching Draco's arm.

*~-~*

"Follow me Slytherin," a dark headed prefect called out.

Pansy slowly rose and began to follow him. She noticed Draco Malfoy, whom she was betrothed to, being followed by two brick walls whom she had met on the train.

"Draco," she cried. "Wait for me!"

She grasped Draco's slender arm tightly, and continued to follow. Further and further they walked, followed by Ravenclaw students.

"Turn left," the prefect leading them shouted.

"Turn right," a voice shouted from behind them, most likely directing the Ravenclaws.

As Pansy turned the corner, she noticed a large flight of stairs leading down to the dungeons. She looked around, noticing intricate carvings on the walls.

"Hurry up, Pansy," Draco hissed, quickening his pase.

Finally, after what seemed hours of walking, they reached a large trapdoor.

"Remember the password, for no one will tell you it outside of the Slytherin common room," the prefect shouted to all of them as he turned to the trapdoor. "Draconigena"

"Loosely translated it means 'sprung from dragon's teeth,'" Draco said proudly, as the trapdoor swung open.

Slowly, all the Slytherins began to file through the trapdoor. As they reached the Slytherin common room, a stale smell hit her. It smelt strange, sickly, but she would just have to get used to it. After all, she had seven years to spend in this place.

"The girls' dormitories are on the left, boys' on the right," the prefect said, pointing to two tunnels going off in different directions. "Please go straight to your dorms and off to bed. Thank you."

Pansy felt Draco wrench away from her and run off with his friends towards the boys' side. Pansy slowly wandered towards the girls' dorms when a small voice interrupted her.

"Excuse me," a small voice said. "I-I-I'm Millicent Bulstrode and I'm also a first year."

"Pansy Parkinson," Pansy said, studying the girl. She was a head taller than Pansy, and had bright blue eyes.

"Would you l-l-like to meet my cat?" Millicent questioned Pansy.

"Sure," Pansy said grinning. "Lead the way."

Grasping Pansy's hand, Millicent dragged her towards not only her dorm, but her future.

*~-~*

Pansy sighed, remembering the first time she had grasped her friend's hand.

"Meow," a cat purred, pushing itself against Pansy.

"Hey, Firfennasiel," Pansy said, picking up the beautiful black cat. "What are you doing outside the dormitory?"

She stroked Firfennasiel's silky black fur and walked back into her dorm. She placed Millicent's cat on her bed and laid down beside it.

"Do you know what Drakie meant?" Pansy murmered to it, stroking it again. The cat looked up at Pansy, it's yellow eyes baring into her soul. "No, I suppose you don't."

*~-~*

Dear Journal,

It's already been a week and Snape's given out detentions. He gave that Marii Patil three for brewing all her potions without her partner's help (though I don't blame her), then another one when she let Longbottom help on the potion causing it to blow up. It was hilarious. Snape's hair got turned fluro pink.

My first DADA lesson was really boring. The professor introduced herself and told us what we were going to study, you know, the usual things. Then she made us copy work from a text book. The other new Patil girl was there, exchanging grins with Vince, which creeped me out.

Quidditch trials will be held in a week, and we will meet the new Captain. Vince is trying out, so is Greg. I hope they do well. I can't wait until this inter schools' tournament. It will be brilliant! I'll get to test my skills against four teams I haven't played before. I've heard from my cousin Melissa that the Ashwinders have won for the past seven years. I also heard that the new Patils are both Captains since it's their last year playing for their school.

Mother keeps on sending me those vitamins disguised as sweets, she reckons I'm too skinny. But I'm just slim. I got another letter from her telling me to eat more, But I eat just as much as Vince and Greg (well, not that much but a lot still). Pansy has been acting strangely. She hasn't complained once about the smell of the common room and her fashion sense is still appalling. I hope it's nothing to worry about.

Well, I'm tired and I have another potions lesson to attend tomorrow and Snape was hinting at arranged seating. So I bid you farewell and adieu.

Draco