Look at it This Way -- HP:NG

[Livvia]

In her dreams, the world looked the same as it had six years ago. She saw the world from her 11 year old perspective. She saw her brother and housemates as kids, as well. Sometimes she would relive the night she got sorted into gryffindor. Sometimes, as on this night, when she would leave the greathall from the sorting, the dream would shift to a darker memory. The shadows in the corridors would shift and slither, and then she would see them: two boys, sixth years at her estimate. One wore Grffindor robes, the other slytherin. She could never seem to be able to hear what they were saying. It didn't sound like something one would wish to stumble upon, though. But, being silly, foolish Venus, she could not seem to foresee the potential danger as most would. She just watched, transfixed, as the one farthest from her pointed his wand at the other between her and him. With a bright flash of red light, there was suddenly nothing more to see.

And then she would wake up and the world would be black once again. Numbly, she felt her way out of bed abd to her wand. "Accio robes," she murmured, just in case her roommates were still asleep. Used to getting dressed this way, she was soon in her robes and grabbing all her books and her cane, tapping it quietly in front of her so she could feel her way down the stairs to the common room.

Since the accident, she'd fallen into a comfortable enough routine, though it still frustrated her to no end. She couldn't leave Gryffindor tower without someone guiding her through the moving staircases. She couldn't return to the dorms unaided, either. It made her want to punch someone -- the boys that had done this to her (she heard that her brother had done this for her shortly after he found out, right before they were expelled, but it just wasn't as satisfying, for her). It made her feel dependent. It made her feel so incredibly blind.

She used to do everything on her own. She was such an independent child; only her twin brother ever encroached upon that, Now, she couldn't leave until someone came along to lead her out. She couldn't write or read without a quick-quotes-quill or a wand. On the whole, she was miserable half the time.



((Might send in Sasha later))

[lari]

The Great Hall was full of lots of chatter as breakfast came to a close and everyone was preparing to leave for their first class. The gossip of the day was making it around the tables. Kids were asking friends answers to the homework assignment due in a short ten minute's time. Plates were being scarped empty as students shoveled the rest of their food into their mouthes. Nathaniel Oliver Xavier sat oblivious to it all in his own silence.

It was ironic that he used to dream of this fate. Nate's favorite thing was silence. He had four older sisters, who talked as if this was the last conversation they would every have. He had parents that always argued. He had house elves that always bugged him. As the youngest and only male in a pureblood family he got a lot of attention, all of which unwanted. The only person that ever seemed to agree with his love of silence was his mother. He was such a Momma's Boy. He could still remember that day he got off the train after a long 3rd year. He saw his mother and looked around. After making sure the coast was clear, he dropped the Slytherin facade and ran up to his mom for a big bear hug. It was the last time he truly hugged her. Any other time afterwords just never qualified as a real hug after this one.

She told him about how his father kicked his mom out, insisting she was a disgrace and calling for divorce; she decided the best revenge would be to take his only heir with her. So they ran away off into the muggle world, where they lived in a small, run-down neighborhood for awhile. It was the only place they wouldn't be found. This trip only increased his love for silence more. The metal on wheels, the picture box, the music box, the talking communication thing, and so much other nonsense noise. Nate got his wish for silence one night, though, coming home for the store late. A gang of kids--barely older than himself and muggles at that--beat him good. Good enough for brain damage. His mom found him in the middle of the beating, as she was a natural worrier and he was taking far too long. And she attacked the kids with magic. But guns work a lot like the Avada. Not too much distance and some good aim, and the both do the deed well.

Nathaniel never liked the Ministry, but if it wasn't for those noisy Aurors, he would probably be dead. They came when they picked up someone using the Avada, which his mother cast at a muggle before she died; it had missed, but it did the job at scaring them away, leaving a dead woman with a bullet through the head and a barely conscious boy. The healers somehow kept him alive, but because of some brain damage, he would never hear again. There were some tricky operations they could do that involved some complicated magic, but Nate didn't want that. At first, his excuse was mourning. He could see the pity already, but didn't want to hear it. But later the excuse was there was too much risks. And little chance that it would actually work.

Be careful what you wish for; lesson learned.

Nathaniel strolled into the Potions classroom deep in thought, accidentally running into two Gryffindors. "Watch where you're going, Deafie," the red headed one sneered. Well, at least, that's what his lips read. Nate sneered back at the boy with the bright red hair; Weasels and their breeding habits (at least he assumed this was a Weasley, as there were too many to keep track, and anyone who was unlucky enough to have red hair was marked as one). Half the Lions now-a-days were made up of redheaded prats.

"Sorry, Pig" Nate signed. He fell in love with ASL when he met a wizard family full of deaf people who lived at Hogsmeade. Almost no one in his school knew it, which is the reason he loved it so much. He could say whatever he wanted and no one knew. But when it was something actually important, Nate would write it out in the air with his wand. Rarely did the boy actually speak, unless he absolutely had to. His voice sounded funny, apparently, and many laughed at him. Nate didn't want to be the retarded kid (that was a title only a Gryffindor could uphold), so therefore, Nate didn't speak.

"None of that hand bullocks! Say it," the other Gryffindor's mouth read, looking quite amused at the situation.

"Sorry," Nate gritted out in his 'funny' voice. The two cracked up, letting the Slytherin through the doors. Nate would get his revenge some day, when they were least expecting it. Well thought out, quality Slytherin revenge. He sat down at one of the seats in the front. Potions was his favorite thing in the world. He wanted to be a Healer and a Potions Master. He had already set out to solve the practically impossible case of making something that would curse his hearing disability. And he was looking into ways to fix the blind and mute, too. He would make some difference in this world for people like him or he'd die trying.

Professor Gahre came in and started assigning partners for the new year. Their seventh one. He went down the roll, making every two names a pair. "Venus, Nathaniel," the teacher's lips read. Nate wanted to yell at him. Making the blind girl and the deaf boy work together? Was this a cruel joke? Venus didn't seem too bad; he didn't know her and he never made an attempt to, but she didn't seem as horrid as the rest of her house. But trying to communicate would be tough. She would have to look straight at him to speak so he could read her lips, but she wouldn't know where he was to look at him. And he would have to actually talk, as she couldn't read his hands or his written words. Nate raised his hand to ask the teacher to change the arrangement, but she ignored him. Professor Gahre couldn't understand ASL and she didn't have the patience to read his words, so she just naturally didn't call on him when he had a question.

He only said he liked Potions; he said nothing about liking the teacher.

Gahre told everyone to get with their partner, so Nate looked around the classroom, trying to find Venus. He'd have to go to her, as she couldn't see where he was. But first he'd have to find her (and he was no Hufflepuff when it comes to finding).

((I hope this is alright. It's kind of long and ramble-y. I kind of powerplayed some things, like assuming she would be taking potions and that she was a seventh year. If any of it bothers you, I will gladly change it. This is going to be fun to write.))