LOOK FOR THE GIRL WITH THE BROKEN SMILE || KACIE

[``helena evelyn berkeley]

Helena glanced at the clock on her bedside table, watching it with glowing emerald eyes. The minute and hour hand lay atop of one another, both in the direction of the little number twelve at the top. Rolling over onto her back, she stared up at the canopy, eager for sleep. She was nearly desperate for it but she knew it wouldn't come. Her mind was too restless for such a peaceful action. Giving a slight growl, she pulled the covers back, clad in her black silk pajamas. Her mother always preferred her to wear gowns to bed but smirking, she knew that her mother was no here. There was no need for her to follow every asinine rule her mother had set forth for her to follow. Then, she caught her reflection in the mirror, her emeralds immediately falling to the mark that would never go away. She remembered trying to wipe it away after she had received it, feeling the burns of its aggravation at her attempts to remove it. Touching her caramel fingers to the deadly tattoo, she felt a wave of nausea sweep through her stomach at having done such a thing. She still had a hard time believing it. It was just so horribly disgusting to her to go this far out of her way to accomplish her parents means. She knew Narcissa didn't have the mark of evil on her arm. Why did she, also a daughter of well-known purebloods have to receive it? She knew why. Her parents were insane. That was the only explanation.

Sighing softly, she stepped towards he trunk and pulled on a long sleeved sweater, covering her camisole with it. She was going to hide what she'd done to everyone here, no matter whose side they were on. Noticing that this sweater was rather baggy, she gave another sigh. But, she wasn't in the mood to find another one. Instead, she simply looked at her hair in the reflection, thought it looked fine and then opened the door that led down to the Common Room. Turning around just a moment later, she grabbed her wand from underneath of her pillow, grabbed her bag, and then hurried down the stairs, her barefoot feet making no sound upon the marble steps. Peeking around the corner, she saw a few students sitting around, some asleep, others studying and stepped out of the shadows before making her way through the portrait hole.

Strolling down the corridors with stealth, Helena was careful to hide whenever she heard footsteps. Once, as she ducked behind a statue, she laid eyes upon Remus Lupin, the handsome young man no doubt making his rounds. She held her breath as he stood there for a moment, as if he could feel her. Closing her eyes, she heard him continue to walk and then his echoing footsteps disappeared. Finally taking a deep breath, Helena stepped from her hiding spot and hurried to the front doors of the school. Immediately sliding out through them, she made her way to a secluded and darkened spot of the front courtyard, taking her sketchbook out of her bag. Plopping down gracefully upon the grace, she looked at the beautiful statues around her, flipping open her book to a blank page. She hadn't drawn in ages, but she didn't want to lose the skill. It was one of the only things she felt she still had. Putting her led pencil to the paper, she gazed at one of the statues nearby, the lion that faced her roaring in silence. Smirking softly, she whispered, "All right, dear, do not move a muscle or I could destroy this art with a single stroke."

Then, her head tilted downwards and she began to draw an outline, matching it perfectly to the figure in front of her.

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[``kacie marie helms]

She was running.

She couldn't breathe. She was so cold.

She clutched her cloak tighter around herself as she sprinted through the streets of London, desperate to get there in time.

She ran into people as she passed, earning harsh glares and insults as she passed. They were all the same. "Watch, where you're going, Mudblood," "You're never gonna get there in time," "You're next"...The list goes on and on. But that didn't matter to her. When she finally broke through the final crowd of people, she saw the bridge beginning to collapse. Screams echoed through the air as cars plummeted into the Thames below, and she screamed, as well. She ran to the edge of the bridge, wanting to throw herself down there. She had to get to Thomas. He was counting on her.

Death Eaters flew through the air, aiming Unforgivables at the victims on the bridge, while the Pureblood wizards on the boardwalk simply stood and laughed cruelly. She noticed one car in particular, a tiny blue one with a "Go Green!" bumper sticker decorating it. Thomas' face peaked out of the broken window, he and his girlfriend screaming for her. "You were supposed to save us!" He screamed, "What's the point of being a witch if you can't save your own brother's life!" Tears streamed down Kacie's face as she whimpered, "I'm sorry, Thomas. I'm so sorry." Slowly, Thomas' girlfriend's face slowly transformed into another, more handsomely devastating face. Sirius. "You're a horrible sister. You don't deserve magic. You never have.".....

Kacie awoke with a gasp. She sat up in her bed, wiping the sleep from her eyes, catching a few drops of cold sweat in the process. The dream was right. She didn't deserve to be a witch. She didn't deserve to have a brother, let alone someone as wonderful as Thomas was. She didn't deserve Sirius.

She glanced around the room quickly, glad that she had remembered to put a silencing charm around her bed this time. She had begun to sleep in the Gryffindor Boy's Dormitory, and she would often have nightmares, waking Sirius up and causing him to worry over her to the point of making her draw her wand on him just to be able to get back to sleep. He was charming, and it was wonderful to know that he cared, but he could be a bit overzealous at times. Luckily, Sirius remained asleep in his bed, oblivious to the situation at hand. She quickly removed the silencing charm, and climbed out of bed, drawing the curtains closed behind her as she did so. Of course it was a ridiculous thing to do, but she figured that Sirius wouldn't question it. After all, they had had a bit of an argument today, so he would understand an action such as this. Knowing that she wouldn't be able to fall asleep again any time soon, she tip-toed toward her trunk, pulling out some loose-fitting robes and putting them on over her pajamas. It was already freezing cold out, and those were the warmest robes she had.

Being as stealth as she could, she snuck out of the Boys' Dormitory and out of Gryffindor Tower. She was sure to have her wand on her at all times; you never knew when a scorned Slytherin would round a corner, waiting to take their vengeance out on anyone. And if they spotted her, it would only be ten times worse. With that in mind, she quickened her pace, not exactly paying attention to where she was going. She thought about heading down to the Lake, but, if Sirius awoke, that would be one of the first placed he would look. Sighing, she found herself in the Front Courtyard, standing behind Helena Berkeley. She had been on somewhat good terms with the girl, up until she had revealed herself as a traitor to Slytherin house. Unfortunately, she had not seen nor spoken to her since. She was leaning over a bit of parchment, looking in deep concentration. Kacie noticed that the girl was drawing a statue of a lion, and almost smirked in amusement. When the girl moved her attention from the statue to the parchment, she moved to stand before her, the sound of her steps muffled by the whistle of the wind. The girl had given her no reason to distrust her, but she was still a Slytherin. Placing a mask of indifference on her face, she smirked and muttered, "Boo."

[``helena evelyn berkeley]

Helena had been so focused on her drawing that she did not hear approaching footsteps behind her. She began to drawn the lines of the lion's mane, eager to capture every single part of the statue onto her parchment. She didn't exactly remember how she had come across drawing, but she figured it had something to do with her parents constantly berating the random artists billowing about on Diagon Alley sometimes. She had always admired their work, eager to gaze at their pieces as if they were the most beautiful things she had ever seen. She remembered her mother grabbing her hand and pulling her away from such 'disgusting' wastes of life and was terribly saddened by it, but it had pulled at strings inside of her. Nothing besides healing had ever caused such a spark to burn in her soul. She had so much desire for the art of sketching and couldn't find anything that was quite like it. It was such a joy to capture expressions and likenesses on parchment, trapping a fragment of time into a single and smaller portrait of the original.

Suddenly, her pencil snapped from her hand as she looked up, startled at seeing her fellow Slytherin. Jumping violently, she clutched at her chest, willing her heart to slow its frantic rhythm. Staring up at Kacie with fearful emerald eyes, she hissed, "Kacie! Merlin, I thought you were . . . Well, I am not really sure what I was thinking when I saw you. Please refrain from doing that in the future." She flashed a brief smile before it faded almost as quickly. Her eyes roamed along her acquaintance's face, the cuts upon it clearly visible. She also noticed the bruises about her arms as her eyes drifted down lower. Sadly, she stood up and moved closer to Kacie. An apologetic gaze set around her eyes, for she never knew that the Slytherins could be so brutal. She had not been in the Common Room at the time, for she had been eager to work on a particular essay for extra credit. When she had come back, though, she had seen the horrors that had befallen Kacie. She doubted the girl would have been standing before her now if she had actually been in the room at the time of this brutal beating. Helena could have done nothing because of her cowardice. Softly, she murmured, "I am sorry that I could not help you then, Kacie. Would you give me the opportunity of doing so now?" Her eyes pleaded with her. She was quite practiced at healing, and these were not inflicted by magic. She assumed that they would be pretty easy to heal, but she wasn't sure.

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