"Give me my letter back," I finally managed to say through clenched teeth. But instead, she tore the parchment in half and threw it into the fire. I suddenly wished I had not left my wand upstairs in my room. Maybe it's lucky I did though; I probably would have hexed her on the spot.

            "I never did like you," she spat at me. "Ever since you went off to Hogwarts and met that Potter, you've been badmouthing our family name!" Her hand twitched slightly as if she would like nothing more then to slap me. Funny, I would like nothing more then to slug her.

            "Don't drag James into this. I would still be disgusted with this family even if I had never met him." This time she actually did slap me. No, more like bitch-slapped me. I can still feel it, even today...But I didn't yelp out in pain. I didn't even flinch. I didn't want her to know how much she actually got to me. But believe you me, this was nothing compared to what I had in store for me.

            "You...insolent brat! I provide you with food, clothes, shelter, and a decent, respectable family name, and how do you repay me?" I don't. "You don't!" Man, I'm good.

            "Yeah, well if you care so much, you have a funny way of showing it!"

            "Do not raise your voice at me, you ungrateful little mudblood lover!"

            At that, I just walked out of the room. If I hadn't, who knows what I might have done. So, I ran straight up to my room, packed my trunk, and grabbed my broom (a brand new Nimbus 1500, I might add) and my wand. I tied my trunk to my broom, and put a Lightening Charm on it. It was still pretty heavy though; Charms was never really my cup of tea. No, if you want the meanest Charm possible, go to Lily.

            But anyhoo, back to my 'escape.' I was about to get on my Nimbus and put an invisibility spell on it and myself when my door bangs open. Literally. And there's my mum, standing with that annoying scowl on her face, wand pointed right at me.

            "Where do you think you're going?" she hissed at me.

            "I'm leaving. I can't take this house or you anymore!"

            "You're not going anywhere!"

            "Just watch me!" Nothing, I mean nothing, would have prepared me for what happened next.

            My heart seemed to stop as she yelled that one little word. The next thing I knew, I was screaming in pain, in agony, on the floor. My very bones were on fire; it felt like a thousand daggers ripping at my skin. Just then, I wanted to die, for the pain to be over. My body was numbing; darkness was closing in around me; and the last thing I heard was my mother's high pitched shrill of laughter, and then I fainted.

            When I finally awoke, I was laying in a plain, queen sized bed, with white blankets and pillows. The walls were also white, so I thought at that point I might be at a hospital. But there were none of those stupid machines that go "beep-beep-beeeeeeeep." Then it struck me that I might be in St. Mungo's, where they don't even have electricity.

            I decided to get out of bed, though very reluctantly, and go explore. When I tried to stand up though, I was shaking so bad, my knees gave way, and I fell to the ground with a thud. A moment later, an old man with a few patches of white hair and about three teeth rushed into my room.

            "Are you okay there sonny?" he asked me with genuine concern in his voice. He outstretched his hand to help me up, but I was still shaking and had to sit back on the bed.

            "F-fine," I mumbled. I was rather embarrassed. I mean, wouldn't you be? Imagine being a buff sixteen-year-old like myself, and needing some old guy with no teeth coming to your aid. Oh well, I was still grateful. I suppose I should have said thanks, but instead, "Where am I?" came out.

            "The Leaky Cauldron. How'd you get here? Dunno, only some lady came and brought you in, told me to give you these." He handed me a scroll of parchment and a small black bag whose contents were clanging together, making a metallic sound.

            "W-who was the lady?" I asked, already knowing.

            "Dunno that either, she was wearing a black hood and wouldn't take it down. She said to look after you, 'cuz you weren't well. She brought your stuff in after you." For the first time, I noticed my trunk lying at the foot of the bed, my broom on one of those mounted broom holders, and my wand on the wooden dresser.

            I nodded. "Thanks..."

            He gave me a crinkled smile and turned to leave, asking before he did, "Will you be needing anything young master?"

            "No, I'll get something in the alley...thanks." This time he nodded, and left the room, leaving me to my thoughts.

            Right when he left though, I tore open the note. It only had three words on it. Don't come back. So, now we all know who the lady was, right? In the black bag was some money. No, a lot of money. 500 galleons, to be exact. That surprised me; I would have thought she would leave me with nothing. Seriously. No pun intended. Shows me, eh? Not that I was complaining. I was free, and I had 500 galleons. So I did what any reasonable sixteen-year-old let loose in the biggest mall you could possibly imagine with 500 galleons would do. I shopped.