The day the first letter came, Dudley was sent to get the mail, before he sat down to finish his breakfast with his parents. Afterwards, going through the mail before heading to work, Vernon's eyes momentarily narrowed in confusion before a look of dawning horror grew across his face. Waving his wife over frantically, he passed her the letter and watched a similar expression grow on her face as well. With obvious fear in her voice, she asked, "What do we do, Vernon?"

Pondering it for a moment, he spoke with the decisiveness that had earned him his latest promotion when he declared, "Nothing, Pet. We just throw it out, pretend we never saw the thing. Besides, you know how she is. Already told us she wants nothing to do with anyone else, so I say we are just doing what she would have anyways."

With a thoughtful look, Petunia nodded in agreement. The letter was thrown into the fireplace (must remember to tell the girl to clean it tonight), Vernon went to work, Dudley went out to visit his friends, and Petunia headed to her book *cough-gossip-cough* club. The letter was put out of mind with the ease of long practice.

Until another letter was pushed through the slot the next day.

Petunia and Vernon discussed it once more, and once more, the letter was thrown into the fire, though with slightly more trepidation. The letter was once more ignored, until later that night, Dudley noticed something fall down the chimney into the fireplace. When he pulled it out and it turned out to be a letter addressed to the girl, he gaped for a moment before yelling for his parents. This time, Vernon carefully shredded it beyond recognition before shoving it deep into the trash bin. The Dursleys had a rather tense evening.

When the next day's mail came, and there was no unexpected letter that day, the relief was palpable. The family relaxed, right up the trash bin fell over without being touched. Then the relief was quickly dispelled, as instead of garbage, letters spilled out of the the bin. All of them bore the same distinct seal, a large, stylized H on a background with four animals. The Dursley's stared in abject shock at the letters, right up until they heard a sound that was cause for anxiety on any day and sheer terror on this one. It was the distinctive series of clicks accompanied by the rattling of a chain as the locks on the cupboard under the stairs opened. The entire Dursley family was seated at the table, and those locks opened from the outside.

—

I came awake with a jolt. My web wasn't humming with the light touches of the Dursley's passing through it as they carried on with their lives. Instead, it thrummed with a rythym I had never felt before. I flooded my power into it, and found that rather than simply carrying echoes along it, a few strands connected to the kitchen were actually vibrating, as if something had actually touched it as opposed to simply passing through. This bore further investigation, and though I could feel that the Dursleys were also in the kitchen, I decided that interacting with them would be worth it since they were present for whatever had happened. With barely a thought, I tugged on the strands attached to the locks on my door with the ease of long habit, before opening the door and heading towards this new mystery.

I found my relatives (or so they said, I really didn't see it) obviously waiting for me, if the apprehensive gazes that immediately latched onto me were any indication. Those gazes quickly turned to disgust as they focused on my hair, which confused me slightly. My hair never seemed to tangle, and I do take a shower every night, so what was the problem? My answer came in the feeling of something moving, and when I tilted forward and the black curtain of my hair fell forward, I saw the spider that had apparently decided to spend the day there. While normally I wouldn't consider the Dursleys' opinion any reason to inconvenience the spider, I needed them to cooperate, and I didn't particularly like having to use my gift for threatening people as dull as my relatives, so I carefully used a single strand of my power to return the little creature to my cupboard before pulling it back and turning to address the remaining occupants of the house.

"What is going on? Don't bother lying, I felt something happen," I said softly, my voice rusty from disuse, and I saw the expressions of unease that had appeared when I used my power turn to fear as they all involuntarily glanced at the pile of letters. Petunia, in particular, seemed to harbor an intense mixture of terror and loathing. I reached out with a strand of my power and stuck it to one of the letters before retracting it, bringing the letter along and into my hand before I raised it up to read:

Ms. G. Potter

The Cupboard Under the Stairs

4 Privet Drive

Little Whinging

Surrey

This was enough to cause my eyebrows to shoot up. Whoever sent this letter actually knew I existed, and even more, they knew my name! The few neighbors who were once aware of my existence likely forgot, save old Ms. Figg, who used to babysit me and still would ask the occasional question about "little Gwen." Her cats were cool though. The energy within them felt brighter, yet also had a strange feeling of intelligence and refinement beyond other cats I touched with my power. Outside of her, I knew of no one who would be sending me letters. But I knew how to find out.

"Explain." I demanded softly, looking straight at Petunia, sure that she at least had some idea of the letter's origins. Nothing else could cause such a personal reaction. The slight flash of guilt in her eyes before she forced a protesting Dudley out of the house only added to my certainty, and I settled down in the living room to listen to my aunt's story as Vernon left for work.

—

"… and now I expect you will go off to that school, learn how to turn teacups into rats or the like, and come back even stranger than you already are!"

Petunia's face was bone white by the time she was threw, and I took a few moments to sift through the bitterness and vitriol for the relevant parts before I spoke. "Not in particular, it sounds like those wizards have a society as well, and I want no part of that. I am quiet happy as I am, though I admit I do like knowing there was a reason you always disliked me, even if it is a stupid one. Honestly, I never even knew my mother, why would you hold anything about her against me? Besides, I have already done so much work in school, why would I want to throw that away? No, I think I will refuse," and with that, I grabbed a pen, scribbled out a quick rejection at the bottom of the letter before replacing it in the envelope, all the while ignoring the lovely fish imitations Petunia was doing.

Standing, I recalled the part about an owl, and connected to my web to search the area. I went outside, and as I knew it would be, there was an owl sitting on the fence. Its inner magic (apparently that was what my power was officially called… meh) held that strange sense of intelligence, much like Ms. Figgs cats, and when it hooted at me, I was almost certain it implied impatience in its tone. I approached carefully, and when it extended its leg, I saw the strap on it that confirmed for me that I was supposed to use it to reply. With some difficulty, I got the letter attached, and watched the bird wing away. Then I went back inside. I enjoyed watching sunrises, but I am far too pale to stay out long under the sun and not burn. Besides, its the middle of the day. I should be in bed.

—

Professor Minerva McGonagall reached for the next letter in the stack of responses to the Hogwarts letters sent out for the incoming first years. She was slightly surprised when she saw it was returned in the same envelope it was sent in. She immediately focused all of her attention on it when she noticed that this was one of the letters sent to Gwen Potter. Her surprise turned to confusion when she found the original letter inside, which turned to shock when she read the words scrawled at the bottom, before she rose from her desk. The Headmaster needed to be informed of this unforeseen development.

Albus Dumbledore was having a good day before his deputy burst into his office before he could call out his typical welcome. Before she even spoke, her expression tipped him off that whatever had happened, it was not going to contribute to his good day. However, when she told him Gwen Potter had rejected her acceptance to Hogwarts, he actually felt a little relieved. It was obvious, to him at least, that the girl was being forced to do so by her muggle relatives. While it wasn't expected, it was by no means an unfortunate development. He would simply go with his backup of sending Hagrid to retrieve the girl. He would need to brief Hagrid on some things useful to convince the Dursleys, but otherwise, the gamekeeper's intense loyalty would ensure the girl came to Hogwarts with certain useful preconceptions. So with an inner smile, he rose to calm his agitated Deputy Headmistress.

"Minerva, I am sure that this can remedied with ease. It is unfortunate, but it appears that Gwen's relatives have not properly explained things to her. I will, of course, immediately arrange for someone to go and explain things properly to young Ms. Potter, and we shall get this all sorted out."

"You'd better, Albus. I told you when we left her there that those people were the worst sort of muggle. If that little girl is not safe and sound at Hogwarts on September 1st, I am holding you personally responsible!" With that, Minerva McGonagall, still bristling like the cat she could become at will, spun around and stalked out of Dumbledore's office.

Dumbledore leaned back in his chair with a sigh, well aware of his deputy's thoughts on the matter. It was part of the reason that he had used legillimency to prevent Vernon from ever seriously injuring the child. Some light beating in this case would have not been as tragic as other cases, as it would all contribute to the betterment of the future, but losing Minerva's support so early on would be far more damaging than any minor benefits gained, so he had went ahead and tightened the restrictions within his mind, before erasing the memory of his visit. But it seems the Dursleys had still done their job, and the girl would most certainly be properly awed by a new, shining world of magic and wonders so different from her dull, loveless life up till then, as well as a kind, wise figure willing to offer praise and guidance. For now though, it was time to speak with Hagrid.

—

At Number 4, Privet Drive, each person was experiencing very different feelings at the moment. Vernon was pleasantly surprised by the girl's decision, and was feeling rather proud of the fact that, in his mind, it his family's influence that led to the her making the right decision for once. Petunia was feeling conflicted, still thinking on the words her… niece had spoken to her and her surprise response to the letter, as well as apprehensive. Her sister had spoken of the things those people could and would do to those who went against them, and she had a bad feeling that things were not going to go the way they wished. Dudley was just slightly confused by the sudden change in the general mood of the house, but he was to busy sneaking extra bacon from his distracted parents. And one Gwen Potter was comfortably asleep in the darkness of her cupboard, covered with the rather nice comforter she had felt it necessary for her aunt to buy for her, content in a dream of walking through an empty meadow under the light of a beautiful night sky, both unsullied by the pollution of humanity that was far, far away.

All of these things changed when three booming knocks resounded throughout the house.

Hello everyone! Thank you so much to everyone who favorited or followed Anti-Social! Even though the alerts from my phone kept me up, I was very happy! The reviews are appreciated as well, and each one WILL be read, so leaving them is great, and will help everyone as I will likely get ideas and try to add things that are very popular, and will respond to some. In fact…

Leez brought up some points, which will interest everyone else as well I think. First off, we know her name! I hope everyone likes Gwen, short for Gwendolyn. Sounds like a sufficiently posh name to me, while having that handy short version. Secondly, manipulative Dumbledore (simply had to try this)! He isn't really evil, but he definitely wants to control the 'Chosen One'. I will try to write him realistically, with his methods and decisions progressing with explanations for the causes and any escalations. He will underestimate Gwen at first, as she is 11, but she isn't going to play too much pretend for him.

On pairings: Leez also asked if this could have femslash if there were any pairings. I was leaning towards a few male characters to possibly pair her with (after LOTS of struggling on the their part *evil grin*), but it can be done. I don't know if she will have a relationship with a female, but she will think that prejudice of that kind is another societal f*ck-up, and will harbor a particular disdain for people who think that way, so she will be willing to try at the very least. Will she? Depends on how things turn out. My views will shortly be up on my page if you want to see what I think, but feel free to share what you want. Don't want femslash? Tell me why. Do want it? Tell me why, and give me some names, cause I got nothing for that at the moment. If I do include it, I will warn people.

Anyways, Reviews really make me happy, and give inspiration as well as motivation. While I don't want flames, I wouldn't mind you politely telling me anything you think, and once again, I WILL read them all and respond to some, via PM or AN. Thanks all!