["Never be bullied into silence. Never allow others to make your decisions. Accept no one's definition of your life, but live freely and define yourself."]

August 21, 1994

It was difficult for Terah to stop smiling, gazing up at the run-down, messily built home just barely standing before her. It looked like it could fall at any moment, but she knew it was held up by magic, so she was safe.

Well, she thought, I hope it is.

Tucking a stray lock of brown hair behind her ear, she lifted her trunk from the ground and began to press forward through the tall, wiry grass around her, smacking at her face as she staggered through, approaching nearer and nearer to the poorly built house.

Her friend, Ginny Weasley, was scheduled to attend the finals of the Quidditch World Cup that summer, along with her father and older brothers. Also accompanying them were Harry Potter and Hermione Granger. Upon hearing that Terah had an interest in attending the Cup finals as well, Ginny had pressed her father into allowing her to tag along with them, too, so long as she provided her own ticket.

That part was easy. She came from two fantastically wealthy pure bloodlines, so purchasing a ticket wasn't the issue. The problem was that her mother wasn't overly fond of the Weasleys, so convincing her to let Terah go was a challenge. In the end, however, Terah and her father eventually pushed through and her mother gave in, with a scowl on her lips before storming from the room.

Terah continued, trying to find the path that led up to the door so she didn't have to fight the vicious tall grass that continued to slash at her and leave stings all over her bare arms and face. Why did Father have to drop me in the middle of nowhere? She wondered to herself as she dragged her trunk along. He's been here before, he's good friends with Mr. Weasley.

"Ow!" Terah hissed as a particularly sharp blade of grass was pulled back and released, whipping her right across the forehead. "Damn grass, I hope someone burns this all one day," she swore.

She stopped momentarily, rubbing at the sting it left across her forehead, before heaving her trunk forward, and onto an open path that led right up to the door of the Burrow. Sighing in relief, she hustled down the path, yanking her trunk violently out of any holes in the path. She was just grateful that she didn't have to suffer through that tall grass anymore.

Approaching the door, Terah finally threw her trunk down, rubbing her sore arm and inspecting the damage done by the grass. It wasn't bad, but it was definitely noticeable. She sighed, before raising her fist to knock on the door.

Knock, kno-

"Terah!" A small, redheaded girl screamed from inside, and thunderous roar of footsteps being heard before the door was flung open and Ginny Weasley was hugging Terah, laughing and grinning from ear to ear. "Fred, George, get down here and get Terah's trunk for her, like real men would!" She leaned her head back and yelled, receiving a couple of shouts of protest in response. Laughing, Terah stepped inside, bumping Ginny's hip with her own.

Four feet appeared on the stairs as Fred and George trampled down the stairs, still in their pajamas, and reeking of the smell of fireworks. Their ginger hair was even slightly singed and sticking up all over the place.

Terah glanced up at the clock, but to her surprise, instead of being a traditional clock, there were nine hands, each holding the image of a different Weasley's face on them and the numbers were replaced with different locations, such as "home," "school," "work," and "mortal peril."

Shaking her head, Terah quickly scanned the wall until she found the actual clock. Terah sighed before turning to the Weasley twins, who were both carrying Terah's trunk on their shoulders, one end of the trunk on Fred's and the other end on George's.

"Boys, what are you doing still in pajamas at 4 o'clock in the afternoon?" Terah smirked, scanning her eyes down the twins' unkempt appearances.

Immediately, the two broke out into identical grins, before simply saying, "We're too busy for such pointless work," and parading off back up the stairs, trying to keep the trunk balanced on their shoulders.

At the bewildered look Terah gave, Ginny shrugged, waving her hand and beckoning Terah to follow her up the stairs to Ginny's room - which would soon squeeze both Terah and Hermione in it that night as well.

Hermione was sitting on the edge of Ginny's bed when they entered, her nose crammed into the pages of a book she was reading - no doubt for school. Her frizzy brown hair was pulled back into a messily done low ponytail, and she paid them no attention as the two sat down on the bed.

"How's your summer been?" Ginny asked, pulling her long, fiery red hair over her shoulder and brushing through it with her fingers.

Terah paused, fabricating a story in her mind, for the others couldn't know the truth of what had been happening at her home, how she'd been forced to torture innocent people for information on where to find loyal Death Eaters. Her mother's sister and her family had visited, and her uncle Lucius had forbid her to say a word of it to anyone, threatening to capture and torture Ginny if Terah did.

"It's been...well, uneventful, I suppose? Aunt Narcissa and Uncle Lucius came to visit for a while, but other than that..." Terah made a face to emphasize her dislike of her mother's family, trying to seem convincing. Ginny raised a slender eyebrow, and Hermione turned her head to glance at Terah suspiciously.

"Really?" The bushy-haired fourth-year said, entirely unconvinced. Terah gave a look that told them not to press the matter, which resulted in the other two girls' eyebrows to raise halfway up their foreheads. Hermione gazed at Terah skeptically before turning back to her book.

"Well, it's been pretty boring here, too," Ginny piped up, breaking the silence that had begun to settle in. "The only thing interesting that's happened is Fred and George accidentally setting the rug on fire with one of their experiments. Mom was furious; she took away all of their prank supplies, though I don't think that's stopped them." As if to prove her point, a sudden, violent rumble shook the house, a loud boom echoing from the floor above. From below, Mrs. Weasley's angry yells could be heard.

Terah smiled, continuing her conversation with Ginny, talking about their brothers, Quidditch, anything they could think of. As they did, Terah couldn't help but think to herself, so this is what a real family feels like.

--

"You're going to lose all of that money, you fools," Terah hissed, smacking the arms of the Weasley twins, rolling her eyes.

The two redheaded boys grinned and shook their heads. "Not likely, Miss Monette," Fred said.

"And why is that?" Ginny spoke up, popping up beside Terah, her fiery red hair braided into a plait down her back.

"Because, little sis," George grinned.

"We know everything." They both finished at the same time, smiles on their faces that would put the Cheshire cat to shame.

Terah and Ginny sighed, shaking their heads at the twins, who had turned and walked off, whispering to each other excitedly. The two girls joined Mr. Weasley, who was ready to head into the stadium for the game.

Soon, they were all climbing the several flights of stairs to the very top of the stadium, all donned in Irish green and Bulgarian red. Several times, Terah had to grab onto her lime green hat to keep it from flying off in the draftiness of the stadium.

"Well, look who it is," a snide voice called out from down below them. Terah held her hat in her hand and grabbed onto the railing with the other, leaning down to see who had spoken.

Her uncle Lucius and cousin Draco were standing down below them, looking up at them with sneers on their faces. Their pale blonde hair stood out against their all-black robes, and the way they stood, they looked as if they were always looking down upon others, no matter what the situation.

"Terah, how different you look, associating yourself with...these people," Lucius sneered, curling his lip at the words 'these people.' "You look as if you could even belong with them." As he spoke, a spark of warning flashed through his eyes, his posture becoming seemingly more threatening, and a sudden sense of danger flooded through Terah.

She backed off, her face contorting into a look of fear. "Whatever you say, Uncle Lucius." Terah paused, before leaning farther over the railing to hiss at her uncle, "But do not tell me I look different when I'm not being forced to do your every bidding, because of course I do. Now go away."

Lucius opened his mouth to reply, but shut it quickly, storming off, ushering his son along after him. Muttering to herself, she caught up with the rest of the Weasleys, Harry, and Hermione, who had already begun to continue up the stairs.

After the game had begun, they were watching, zooming in on players through their Omniculars and replaying epic shots and scores. While everyone was distracted, Terah took a step back, sitting on a bench and putting her head in her hands.

Her mother, aunt, and uncle were controlling her. Forcing her to stay quiet about what they made her do to those Ministry officials, forcing her to torture harmless people.

It had been happening for as long as she could remember. Even being as little as four, Terah could recall being forced to sit and watch s her mother and uncle would murder muggles and torture other witches and wizards for information, being restrained by her aunt and father. And for as long as Terah could remember, she'd always been threatened to keep quiet, to be silent.

Groaning, Terah rubbed her eyes, forcing her mind to think of something else. For years, Terah had been able to suppress the graphic images of those bloody bodies on the floor of her home, to only think about making other people happy. But suddenly, it was catching up to her, a lot faster than she wanted it to.

Hermione caught notice of Terah's distressed state and snuck over to sit next to Terah on the bench, wrapping an arm around her friend's shoulder. "Terah, hey, are you alright?"

Shuddering in her seat, Terah shook her head, laying her head on Hermione's shoulder. "No, not really...but I can't really talk about it."

At that, Hermione shrugged Terah off, turning to face her friend. "And why is that?" she asked, but the look in her eyes said that she already knew. And when Terah didn't respond, Hermione continued, proving that she did already know the reason. "Terah, never be bullied into silence. Never allow others to make your decisions. Accept no one's definition of your life, but live freely and define yourself." Her words sounded as if she were reciting a famous quote, and she seemed quite proud of herself for being able to remember it. A moment later, however, Hermione sighed, the expression on her face turning somber. "If someone is threatening you to keep quiet about this, you don't have to worry about it. Harry, the Weasleys, and I will all protect you if anyone tries to hurt you. But trust me, you have to tell someone, before it gets worse."

Terah averted her eyes, looking down at her lap, before taking a deep breath. She looked back up at her close friend, who was staring at her, concern in her brown eyes.

Gathering her courage, Terah opened her mouth to finally speak, pouring out years of silence and pain to Hermione, who sat there, completely willing to listen. Terah had to begin to live her own life, and not the life her mother, aunt, and uncle had defined out for her.

But every action comes with consequences. And for those few moments, while she was telling Hermione everything that had ever happened to her, Terah forgot about that.

--

[2062 words]