[Usual disclaimer]

Not entirely sure what genre this is. Probably parody. Anyway, presenting:

A Sue's Story

Chapter 1

It was the best day of her life.

Serena Amber Mercedes blinked her large, perfect turquoise eyes as she stared around at the crowds of robed figures bustling back and forth across Platform Nine and Three-quarters. She tossed her head a few times, savouring the feel of the light wind as it caught in the golden waves of hair that flowed elegantly down her back, outlining all the right curves. Her perfectly-manicured fingers tightened momentarily around the trolley along side her, stacked high with her most precious possessions – trunk of clothes brought specially for her new year, a box of Muggle CDs, and the gilded box housing her ebony-furred cat, Blackfire. There was also a box of spellbooks, but these were for show rather than function. Absently, she wondered if she should have brought a wand, so she could keep her secret easier...but it didn't matter yet.

A bright smile rose onto her face again, flawless teeth glinting in the morning sun. It was her first year at Hogwarts, even if she would be a year older than the other first-years, and she couldn't wait to see what it had in store for her. She knew everything that had happened there over the last few years, all the adventure, and she just knew that her first year would be even better, even more exciting...

She flicked her hair again.

It was the only thing that saved her.

The air hissed as something shot past her ear, so close it almost scraped the skin, and Serena span round, shocked, as an agonised yowling erupted from her trolley. Her eyes widened in horror as they focused on the half-melted debris that a split second before had been her catbox. It was barely recognisable now. A thin, metallic shape was sticking out of the warped plastic, and a thick, acrid brown smoke was boiling out of the cracks. The yowling – at first recognisable as a cat – had degraded into a guttural hiss, but nothing of Blackfire could be seen past the billowing smoke.

"Blackie!" Serena darted forwards, automatically reaching towards the metal spike, when suddenly a hand locked over her wrist in an iron grip. She was wrenched forcibly to one side and shoved down behind the trolley.

"You do not want to do that," a male voice rumbled by her ear as the attacker came into view – a tall figure, hidden behind a dark brown, hooded robe. A booted foot lashed out, catching the trolley a sharp blow that toppled it onto its side, scattering her belongings onto the platform. The dark figure dropped down next to her, slamming a gloved hand over her mouth as he did so. Serena gave a stifled yelp of fear as the upturned trolley shuddered violently, the wood blackening instantly as a series of hidden things slammed into it. She nearly swallowed her tongue in terror as the last blow hit, and this time three tiny metal spikes punched through. Somehow, the light seemed to catch the silvery tips in a way that sent cold shivers down her spine.

"That's it!" The robed man leapt upright, whipping a thin wand from somewhere in his robes. He yelled something Serena didn't quite hear, and then suddenly his hand locked around her arm again and wrenched her upright. She didn't even have time to register what was happening before the man hauled her bodily aside. There was a sickening moment of weightlessness, then her feet slammed into rough ground and she found herself stumbling across the rails as her captor dragged her infront of the huge, steam-wreathed shape of the Hogwarts Express. They skidded to a halt in lee of one of the huge steel wheels and Serena was slammed into it, half-crushed against the metal as the man pressed a hand over her mouth again.

She couldn't have moved, even if she dared to.

A pair of dark green eyes locked with her own.

"Who did you speak to?" The sound was more a low growl than a voice, and it was only the glimpse of pale skin hidden behind the hood that reassured her that the figure she was facing was man rather than monster. She didn't respond, but let out a gasp as she was shaken violently.

"I won't play games! We have thirty, maybe forty seconds before they figure out where we are! Who did you speak to on the platform?"

"N...no one!" Serena managed to squeak past the glove. The man glared at her, swore loudly and swivelled round.

"Dammit…you hadn't interacted yet? Shit... This way!" He grabbed her arm again and started to pull, but this time she struggled. Her mind had caught up enough with events to swap some of the panic for anger and she doubled her efforts to escape.

"Let me go! I'll scream!"

"Radius Petrificus!"

Serena's arms suddenly locked themselves to her sides, and a fresh wave of shock surged through her. How did he know that...? Her surprise at the action was quickly swamped by fresh panic as the man ducked, hoisted her onto his shoulders, and started running again. She opened her mouth, sucking as much air into her lungs as possible, readying an ear-splitting yell bound to attract the attention of those on the platform –

"Silencio!"

Her scream managed little more than a squeak. Tears welled as she struggled ineffectively against the invisible bonds and gag. What was happening? Someone was firing burning metal prongs at her, and now she was magically trussed up and being carted off to Merlin-knows-where by some strange man who could be a Death Eater or worse! Why was no one helping her? The thought sent a cold shot across her mind.

She had just been physically abducted from the busiest magical station in England. The platform was swarming with students and their families – how could this be happening?

Her swirling thoughts were cut off as her captor suddenly dived sideways into a maintenance alcove set into the walls alongside the track. Behind them, a series of metallic, vibrating thuds echoed sinisterly, and the man swore again.

"Fast re-loading this time," he muttered, obviously to himself, and he leaned forward, pressing his eye to a cobweb-wreathed hole in the brickwork. There was a moment of suspended time, and suddenly the stone rippled and drew back like a curtain, exposing a dark tunnel. The man dived through, hurling her to the ground inside, and span round with his wand drawn again. He muttered something and the wall re-formed, plunging the tunnel back into darkness.

Serena lay there, panting heavily with fright. Her mind had gone numb. What was happening? What was going to happen?

What was going on?

"Get up." Hands dug into her shoulders and she was wrenched upright again. She felt an arm slide tightly round her shoulders and propel her forward, unseeing, into the darkness.

"Don't try anything funny," the voice was right next to her ear, and she couldn't help but shudder, "Do, and I'll use a full bind. Understand? Just nod."

She nodded. What else could she do?

They continued in silence. She had no idea how long it took – seconds turned to hours in the clawing darkness – and how the man could see anything was beyond her. Tears ran freely, silently, down her cheeks. She didn't know where she was, or what had happened.

This wasn't right.

This wasn't what was supposed to happen!

It...it just wasn't right!

She choked back a silenced sob, and suddenly the man's grip tightened again, pulling her to a halt.

"Lumos."

Soft white light surged out, illuminating the area. Here, the tunnel opened up into a rough chamber. Aside from a two-metre, blackened alcove chiselled into the brick and concrete aggregate that made up the far wall, there was nothing there.

"Incendio."

Flames sprang up in the alcove, licking hungrily at the brickwork, and Serena was shoved forward. Her captor flung a fistful of powder into the flames, which flared green, and Serena felt her eyes widen. That thing was on the Floo Network?

She didn't have time to consider it further as she was pulled into the alcove. The emerald flames surged up around them as the man snapped something, and then the world dissolved in a sickening, swirling mass of green light. When her feet hit solid ground again, a few stretched-out seconds later, Serena felt her knees give way. The man grunted as he suddenly had to take her weight, and she found herself flung roughly onto an ancient, dusty sofa. She caught a brief glimpse of the room they had materialised in, but not enough to make out much more than that it was larger than the tunnel, before her view was again obscured by her captor's cloak as he towered above her.

She tried to kick him, but another swift flick of his wand pinned her feet to the floor. Hands clamped onto her shoulders, her head forced back as the wand tapped her throat, removing the bind. The hood loomed over her.

"What's your name?"

It took several attempts before she could manage anything more than a terrified squeak, and even then her voice was several octaves higher than it should be. Bats would have winced.

"S-Serena Amber Mercedes."

The man made a low sound, which might have been a groan.

"Let me guess, your day plan included 'straight into Gryffindor'?" The sarcasm was heavy in his tones; "At least from the sound of it you're not American. Serena... Dammit girl, you're the third one this month!"

"Wh...what?" Confusion flared for a moment, past the fear, and she squinted up into the hooded darkness, "I'm what?" A fresh wave of fear rose suddenly as a new thought eased unpleasantly into her mind. She was the third? Third what? The third one he'd done this to? That was frightening, and she doubled her struggles against the arm binds. If she could just get one hand free, then she'd-

"I don't have time for games," the man growled and reached up, wrenching his hood back, and Serena got her first good look at her captor. He wasn't what she'd imagined. The face staring down at her was young, and would be handsome if his expression were less hostile. He had rough-chopped brown hair, slightly too long and unruly round his ears, and features that wouldn't have been out of place staring out of a pin-up magazine. The deep emerald eyes she'd seen before locked with her own...and a small gasp escaped her lips as the gazes met.

His eyes weren't green anymore. They weren't anything anymore, not for long. It was like staring into twin rings of some strange kaleidoscope – shades and colours rose, swirled and faded as she watched, his stare rippling from green to blue to grey and a dozen shades between then back again.

That...that wasn't...

...but...she was the only one...

"Seen this before?" The question broke through the shield of shock around her mind and Serena found herself nodding automatically, unable to drag her attention away from the cycling gaze.

"My..."

Another groan cut her off, but this time she managed to coax a little anger into rising, and made a fresh attempt at fighting the bind. She summoned the best glare she could muster.

"Who are you? What do you want with me? I'm supposed to be on the train," it seemed important, somehow, to emphasise that, "They'll notice I'm gone, I-"

"The only people who'll notice you're missing are those who were aiming for that over-styled head of yours," the man snapped, and suddenly his wand arm vanished into his robes again, emerging a split second later with something silvery clutched between gloved fingers. She didn't get to see it clearly before pain flared in her neck and she let out a yelp. The pressure wasn't much but whatever it was burned. It felt as if points of white-hot fire were drilling through her throat and she started squirming violently, trying to get away. The man's free hand latched onto the top of her head, pinning her in place.

His stare swirled hypnotically.

"I'm asking the questions," he growled, "Try not to forget that. So, going by that little admission, and the fact your eyes are reacting to mine, I see you've got an ocular cycle. You've got no wand and are struggling particularly hard to free your hands, so I assume you Channel. Got any other abilities? Be advised – I will know if you're lying."

The idea of lying hadn't crossed her mind. Just about the only thought that was occupying her attention was to get the thing pressing into her throat as far away as possible.

"I...I don't th-think so..."

"Age?"

"Twelve..." She trailed off at a snort of disbelief from the man. The locked gaze broke for a moment as he cast a glance over her and shook his head.

"That's always the hardest bit to believe." He shook his head again, but did lean back slightly and the pain at her neck vanished, leaving only a sharp ache. She released her held breath, but the relief was short-lived as the man brought the thing up again across their gaze-line. Just the sight of it made her squirm. It looked like a miniature trident; with its prongs so thick that for the most part they were fused, leaving three vicious spikes protruding from above a concave disc.

"W...what is that?" She shuddered as it glinted. The man's cycling gaze caught hers again, pinning her to the spot.

"This?" He twirled it carefully round his gloved fingers, then suddenly leaned closer, so his face was only millimetres away from her own, "Easy. Vampires have sunlight, werewolves have silver. We – have this."

Before she could say anything else, a loud beeping cut through the air. The man jumped, swore quietly and straightened up, patting his robes. After a few seconds searching, he produced a small mobile phone and flicked it open.

"Kate? Hey, yeah, I picked her up. At the station. Uh-huh. Almost cliché," the glance swept over her again, "Claims twelve, I'd say closer to sixteen. Eyes, wandless, blonde. Serena. Yeah, I know. No, no interaction, but they'd picked her up anyway. Okay. Not sure, maybe too far gone... Right. Later." He flipped the phone closed again and pocketed it.

Pushing the odd conversation from her mind, Serena grabbed her chance to look round her surroundings clearly for the first time. It was less than impressive – a medium sized room with faded, out-of-date décor, and furnished with an odd selection of worn sofas, huddled around the fireplace. Two large windows, heavily covered with blinds and dirt, provided meagre light, although what lay beyond the glass was obscured. The fireplace seemed to be the only other way into or out of the room. Her view vanished again as the man stepped back. He glared down at her, then, just for a moment, his expression softened slightly.

"If I unbind your hands, you won't try anything?"

Serena shook her head. She was being honest enough – there was much more to this guy than met the eye, and something told her that she'd never have chance to finish a hex if she did try anything. Plus, the bind was starting to cut off circulation to her arms. The man produced his wand again and tapped her arms. Her fingers twitched automatically as she regained control, but she didn't attempt anything further.

Her heart was drumming almost painfully hard on her ribs, and she swallowed a sob as she looked up at her captor again.

"Who are you?"

The man regarded her coolly, then shrugged.

"Richard."

"Richard what?" Instantly, she knew she'd said something wrong. The man's expression hardened, his glare returning.

"Just Richard."

"Why are you doing this to me?" Her voice cracked as she spoke. The man – Richard – watched her impassively for a few moments. He shrugged again.

"It's what I do. People like us..."

"I'm not like you!" She had to say it, if only to convince herself. The cycling shades in his eyes...she couldn't get that out of her mind.

To her surprise, he laughed quietly.

"Yeah, they all say that. They're 'special'. Well I've got news for you, Serena," he spat the name like an insult, "You're exactly like I was. Now we'll have to see if you're anything like I am."

Panic surged. Serena didn't know why it rose again, fresher, colder, somehow beyond anything she'd felt so far, but it did. She jerked up in her seat, her shoulders pressing into the back of the chair as she tried to get away from the accusing stare above her.

"I'm nothing like you! I'm...I'm human!" The insistence in her voice was painful, even to her. Richard shook his head, and when he spoke, his tone was very sharp.

"Not completely. You, me, Kate, none of us is." His eyes flickered again, this time to a strange, almost oily black, and Serena shrank back at the look in those eyes. He turned, slowly, until he was facing her fully, until there was nowhere to hide from the stare.

Eternal seconds ticked past.

Then Richard shook his head.

"You're a Mary-Sue. And believe me, that'll only be the start of your problems."

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