Freaks: Year One

He Taught Me The Truth

Abuse.

Whatever did happen to that kid? Alabaster thought.

He had been out to that treehouse a few more times at night while his family was sleeping, and so far he had just found out that he had snuck out of the house a few years ago to hang out with this halfblood. He learnt things about the muggle world, and the two of them talked about what they each thought Hogwarts would be like.

It honestly was fun what he had seen - what he had gone through.

Even though they were just memories.

In an odd way the treehouse had become a comfort to him.

He would do his classes with Adelaide, and his mother each weekday, getting in trouble, and yelled at due to his problem with reading and writing, and also because he was tired and less focused since he had been spending so much time at the treehouse.

He liked reliving memories that were forgotten. It was nice, nicer than home.

His thoughts were broken by a pain shooting up his wrist. His other hand quickly grabbed his wrist, and he saw a welt forming there. "Focus." His mother hissed.

"Sorry mother." He said quietly.

"What has been with you these past couple of weeks?" She asked him, crossly. "You usually at least are alert."

"Sorry I... " What should he say? "I have been having trouble sleeping lately."

"Not an excuse." She said sharply. "Continue your work, and stop daydreaming, there is no daydreaming allowed in this house."

"I wasn't daydreaming-"

She whipped out her wand. "Why are you talking back?"

Alabaster tensed. "I - I didn't mean to, I...I'm sorry."

"You have to learn to be obedient, and alert all the time, no matter how tired you are. You need to focus as you already are a failure."

"I'm sorry."

She tapped the book. "Focus."

And he did, or at least tried to. The words were hard to see, and he really was tired.

Now he really should have stayed in that night to get some rest, but he was much too curious since he was actually remembering things from his past. He just needed to know more.

So once again at a quarter past one, he snuck out of the house, and he went back up there. He sat there once again in the dark room; it was getting more chilly since it was now reaching the end of December. Some snow had fallen through the cracks of the old wood.

Whenever he came here he would sit in the silence, the wind blowing, and the snow falling. He would examine the old muggle, and wizarding books, and try his best to decipher what they were saying.

He didn't know this halfblood's name. Maybe he had in the past, but the memories, or flashbacks he had, didn't give him his name, only moments they had together.

Alabaster was climbing up the treehouse, and he entered it to see the boy's back turned. He was staring at something, Alabaster noticed. He sat down, and it seemed the boy must have been deep in thought because he hadn't noticed that Alabaster had come in so Alabaster broke the silence by saying hello.

The boy quickly turned around, like he was surprised that Alabaster was here. "Oh, you came back!"

Alabaster gave him an odd look. "Of course...did you not want me to?"