Feeling Strange

Juliet was still getting used to all the changes this new school brought. She was learning about a fair few things that she never ever believed would be in the real world like, potions that make your hair grow and stop you from dying and anything else you could possibly think of. People that can turn into animals because they feel like it and so much more. It was overwhelming.

Falling into bed that night she felt like her brain might explode from all the information and the tragedy they all faced on the very first day. Her bruises were starting to fade and turning that horrible yellow colour that they turned.

Glancing over to the bed that was next to hers. She whispered "Are you liking it here? Or finding it really strange...?" She asked. Not wanting to wake the other girls.

She still hadn't managed to find a proper friend yet but she figured the right person hadn't come across her path yet.

Poppy didn't sleep much since coming to Hogwarts. So many changes had happened in her life in just a few days. Then there was the great hulking werewolf that invaded her nightmares and made her not want to sleep.

She wasn't the only student that was bruised, but the difference was that the side of her face had been coal black before she'd even boarded the train. The bruises were getting older now. They were now turning an orangish shade. She hated them.

Her owl had delivered a package in the mail a couple days after she arrived. It was a small flat tin that had a magical cream that would lighten her bruises for awhile, but not by much. It had come with a note that read. "Its the best magic can do, Sweetheart." The tin had come from her father.

"Never be ashamed of a bruise," he'd told her at the station, when she hadn't wanted to board the train. "Its a badge of courage. It shows you survived."

And now, a voice in the next bed spoke in the darkness. Someone else who couldn't sleep. Well, at least she wasn't alone in that.

"Its all very odd," Poppy said softly. "I sure could use a map. The castle is so big. And you? It is easier for you?"

Juliet nodded in the darkness. It was very odd. She wondered what it would have been like if the train hadn't crashed and the school hadn't been invaded. Would it have been easier and much happier or would it just be the same. First years wondering what was even going and not even knowing half of what the older kids talked about in hushed whispers.

"You would think the older kids would send us in the right direction instead of to the other side of the castle when we asked. That way we would figure it all out" She said. Juliet had had the misfortune of asking a green clad boy where the Defence class room was and he decided to send her off the Herbology. She ended up being overly late for her class and an unimpressed professor.

"Once I'm no longer yellow i think it will be easier. Maybe once everyone is better on the outside then it will be a better place to be?" She said with a shrug and a shake of her head trying to throw the picture of all the hurt people out of her mind.

"I got lost too," Poppy said. "I wanted to go to Herbology, and someone sent me to the boathouse. Out by where the train went...well, you know. I found out its hard to lose a castle, though. Once I got back there, a professor showed me how to get to the greenhouse."

She paused. Her dormitory mate was bruised too. "I know what you mean. I feel like everyone looks at my face. My father sent me a tin of stuff that's supposed to help hide bruises a little. You can try it tomorrow if you want. I haven't decided if it helps mine yet or not.

"I asked my parents, when I wrote them last, when it would get easier," she said. "All they said was, 'Soon.' Not very helpful. I hate when they say that--like its supposed to mean something. That tells me nothing."

Juliet laughed lightly at Poppy's comment about how it's hard to loose a castle. "I'd be impressed if you did manage to loose castle. I mean it is the only thing around for miles and miles" She said still giggling a little. Not knowing where the castle was all together was just funny to her for some strange reason.

"Nah it's okay. It's for you -" Juliet didn't want to use Poppy's potion because you would have had to be blind to not notice the bruise across her face and it seemed she needed it a little bit more, Her own were just scattered across her body in painful places. "- your dad probably went to great lengths to get it for you" She made up. She didn't want to insult her either.

"I hate when parents say that. I haven't written my parents yet. Those bloody owls scare the crap out of me. I don't understand how they can train so many to know where to go" She said just as her kitten jumped up on her bed and snuggled in. "Plus Sade here probably wants to eat them all" She said with a grin

"I don't know whether my dad had to work to get it or not," she said. "I've just met him. I've always lived with my mom and stepdad, but, my real dad is back. I like him, though. So far. That, and I know he knows how to fight and how to duel. He says he protects people for a living. That doesn't tell me much either. I thought I'd look him up in the library tomorrow."

It did sound odd to her own ears that she didn't know much about her biological father. Even knowing the truth now, the real story of her family was stranger than most fiction. She was prepared to let the easiest explanation stand for now. Reality might be just too confusing. What her mother had ever seen in Poppy's stepfather, Poppy would never ever know. Poppy didn't see one redeeming factor in the man. Not one.

"You haven't been around many owls, have you?" Poppy asked. "I have an owl. Her name is Nyx. My mum bought her a few years ago from a woman who speaks to owls and trains them from hatchlings. Nyx is a lot of fun. She loves to play fetching games. Sade might want to eat her, but I think Nyx is probably bigger. At least right now."

Juliet was impressed by Poppy's Dad. Her own dad wouldn't be able to tie his shoelaces if her mother wasn't around sometimes. He had actually forgotten her once at ballet practice. "You have two dad's your lucky. My dad can't even remember where he put his glasses sometimes and they are on his face" Juliet said shaking her head again. "He must be very Brave"

Juliet yawned and nodded. "Yeh when i want to send a letter a put it in the post box and a mail man takes it to the person. Much more civilised than a bird taking it" She said matter of factly. "People talk to owls? Wow this world is just getting crazier and crazier" She said in wonderment.

Poppy listened to Juliet talk about her dad. "Does he treat you well? Your dad?" she asked."That's what counts--that he's at least trying." There were far worse things than a forgetful dad. The idea of a dad that was just forgetful made her smile.

She listened to Juliet talk about sending letters. "Isn't that how muggles do it? With letter boxes and postmen?" she asked. "I read about that in one of my books. My mum told me that owls are more reliable because they don't lose the letters. She says muggle letters sometimes don't get where they're going. All I have to do is to give Nyx my letter and tell her to take it to my dad, and she finds him--wherever he is. I don't know how. But she does."

Juliet thought it was a strange question. Of course her dad would treat her well. It was her dad. Of course she had friends whose dad was sometimes absent but they were always treated well. "Well yeah i mean your dad is meant to. If he didn't treat you well then he would be a very good dad would he?" Juliet asked. "Yeh he tries" She said with a small smile. She did miss her parents and wished she could see them but she had wanted to come to the magic school just as much as they wanted her to.

"Yeh it's how muggles do it. I was a muggle" Juliet laughed lightly at the postman losing the letters. "They dont loose them often. Only when you dont write where its going properly on it. But i guess if owls can find anyone without even knowing where they are it's probably better" She said with a nod and patted the small kitten on her bed.