It happened the night of my thirteenth birthday. Friday the thirteenth. During the summer holidays. I haven't spoken a word since - only whispering in my sleep.

Three years later, and I have only slipped up once. To tell my father I love him. He needed it more than anything in the world. I can remember that night. I had my back to the wall and I was staring at my father, sitting on the floor. Crying. My voice was hoarse and it hurt to break my silence. The silence I took for a special reason.

My mother has put me through everything to make me talk and my father had no choice but to follow. He knew he was doing the wrong thing, and thought I didn't love him anymore.

"What stopped you speaking, Tory? What's wrong, Tory? What happened, Tory?" This is what all the therapists ask me.

What happened? I'll tell you...

I had just turned thirteen and my parents gave me a surprise sleepover party, with all my friends. Lily Evans, Kayla Grimshore, Nikki McPharlin and Sara Frank were there. We were talking about everything related to Hogwarts – our school - , boys, Marauders, Quiddich, homework, professors and friends. But then I was dared by Kayla to skinny dip in the lake. Not being the one to refuse a dare, I agreed.

First, I had to get to the water.

I stripped off my pyjamas, everyone was giggling, and Lily picked up my stuff so it wouldn't get wet. All I had to do was dive in, tred water for ten seconds and then get back out. The only light was from the moon and a few street lamps.

Second, I had to dive.

I couldn't see where the water started so I decided to jump off the wharf, just to be safe. The timber was rough under my feet and the chilly air whipped around my face. I stood at the edge and bombed in. All the girls were cheering.

Third, I had to stay afloat.

My head re-emerged and I took a deep breath. I laid on a tilt in the water to keep my head up. The girls were standing about 100 metres away and I couldn't really tell who was who in the dark. I counted down from ten.

Ten, nine, eight...

I felt something bump against my legs. It felt like a hand. I shivered and continued the dare. I was only imagining things.

Seven, six, five...

The thing bumped me again. This time on my back and I could feel something fabric-ish. Like clothing left in the water for too long. Then I saw a shadow out of the corner of my eye. It looked like a small human body. I continued to count, I was being stupid now.

Four, three, two...

I saw her eyes. Like they had just seen her life flash before them. She was pale and stiff, like a manikin – except manikins don't have scratches and bruises, like her. Her black hair was mattered all across her face like the fresh breeze had just blown. But what I remember most, were her arms lightly wrapped around me like I was her only hope. Her blood sticking to me like honey.

Angie McKee.

One...

I couldn't even scream. I was scared and felt myself drowning. The girls were still by the wharf and I could hear them giggling. They had no idea what was happening to me. I made no splashing. I just sunk like a stone.

Fourth, I was going to die.

I looked up to the surface of the water and saw her body floating there, like a lily pad in a bird bath. I had just let my last breathe go and my eyes were starting to close.

I was almost gone...

But then two strong arms came around my waist and pulled me to the surface. I didn't dare take a breath. Just in case I was really still underwater. And all that would fill my lungs was that deadly cold liquid. The liquid that will keep us alive for two weeks - but will kill us in less than four minutes.

I was dragged to the wharf and I felt somebody hoist themselves up next to me. They were sopping wet but not as cold as I was. I couldn't hear or see the girls, but I knew they were running back towards my house. I was shaking, but not breathing.

Five, I was saved.

I felt a mouth come down against mine and air fill my, once empty, lungs. All that I remember after that was a pair of big eyes, full of something I could not name, and two hands pump my heart back into action.

After that, nothing. Nothing except waking up in my bedroom, still naked apart from somebody's jumper wrapped around me, and my sheets tucked up around my head. I was clean and warm – and smelt like strawberry shampoo.

I could hear my parents and my friends calling my name from out in the front yard. They were screaming and crying. I could hear somebody climbing down the tree near my window.

My hero.

I stood up as fast as possible. My whole body split into a pain so violent, I could hear my heart beat louder than drums from a marching band. I ran to the window and saw a male figure walking down the foot path.

But did I call out?

No. I couldn't. Silence flooded through me like water running down a waterfall. Since then, I have only spoken once since. The person was out of sight but not out of mind. Then I blanked out, only to wake up three days later. My friends around my hospital bed. For that whole day, I looked into every male's eyes, searching for any familiarity to the one on my birthday.

But I don't remember those eyes. The ones that were my only hope, years ago.

Now, I still go to Hogwarts. I still have my friends. They all blame themselves, but I know better. I haven't spoken to them or anybody at school since, but the professors don't mind - I'm strong enough to do wordless magic. All the other students think I'm bonkers! Or so it seems. But they don't know what happened that one night. The police never found the girl's body and I'm not about to tell them. It remains a mystery to everybody but me and the killer.

How do I know it wasn't an accident? When you see a young girl, with her face a mirror of fear, her eyes a pool of despair and her body all battered and bruised, you know it wasn't an accident. Even if you weren't there.

What really traumatized me was something a lot more complicated than seeing a mangled body. It was the fact that she died alone. My one greatest fear.

Angie McKee was never a very good friend of anyone. It wasn't that she didn't want to be. It was because none of the kids in the neighbourhood accepted her. I would have, had it not been for my personality. I was way too loud for most of the people in this world. That's what freaked my friends out most of all. Once second I was a human foghorn, the next, not even speaking a word.

Angie McKee was tall and strong. That's what I remember most about her. A silent rock. That is what I had turned into. Everybody, even people I don't really know, tell me their secrets. I think it is because I won't tell anyone and it gets a lot off their chest. I can remember telling somebody mine. I just can't remember who. It is all a foggy blur. My whole childhood is.

But now, I am going to change that.

Tomorrow is the day of my sixteenth birthday and I am going back in the water for the first time since my thirteenth. At night. By myself. For more than ten seconds.

And I'm not telling anybody.

Because that's just like me. Tory Cherri. Tory Cherri with my brown hair down to my waist, my jade eyes and a silence that has stayed with me for almost four years.

But it is all going to change.