Picture by gwynbones at Deviant ArtGerrard had grown up orginally on the outskirts of London and for a long time with his parents and being an only child had a very close relationship with them even into his teen years. As he grew up his parents had seen something different in him and had hoped that someday like they both had done would be accepted to and attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and have all of the wonderful experiences that they had in their years there. At the age of ten something had happened within the family, his father which had worked directly under the Minister of Magic for many years had taken a long leave of absence from his work and his mother whom had also worked in the Ministry and to Gerrard's curiosity had never found out nor asked what exactly she did, had also taken a long leave of absence. During this time Gerrard was sent to stay with a man whom he'd only known and heard his parents refer to as his "Uncle" or Samuel, saying a tearful goodbye and his mother nit-picking over wether everyhing was okay and if Gerrard would be okay was finally ushered off by his father and for the longest period of time in his life he was alone for the first time. In all of his time spent with his uncle Gerrard had only ever known to call him Sir and never anything else, the house that he stayed in was bland and ill-decorated though for a man who did not seem to care for much he kept every square inch of that house clean and Gerrard had soon learned to do the same for fear of what might happen. At such a young age Gerrard was still losing the last of his baby teeth and over the months of staying with his uncle he had begun to withdraw into himself and more and more look to the few belongings he had with him for support since each day they had simply given less. As the last of his teeth begun to fall out he had placed them into a small bag after washing them clean and with each one made a promise to see his parents again and be just how he was when they had left him here in the "safe" care of his uncle. As time wen't on his uncle had become more and more angry and violent in Gerrard's presence, sevral times Gerrard had ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time and been punished for simply being in the way. As the beginning of his first year at Hogwarts had drawn closer he once again had become excitable and happy that he would get to see his parents again however the relationship between him and his uncle had steadily gotten worse as their time together was going to come to an end. The last fight between them that he can remember happened one week before his parents had said they would return to collect him, what his uncle had been up to he'll probably never known and chances are he'll never ask the question but that night a frustrated older looking man with long blonde hair, pointed nose and sharp features had stormed from the house about an hour before Gerrard had seen any movement from his uncle's office. Standing just down the hall from the entrance to the office Gerrard had wanted to see if everything was okay despite their relationship as he crept down the hall and was about to knock on the door it had opened and his uncle, now red faced and angry again stared down at him. Accused of eaves dropping and spying Gerrard had no opportunity but to gasp for air as he was dragged downstairs by the collar of his shirt and using a chain his uncle had tied him to the wall. Unfinished and not completely built the basement was dark, damp and very cold the walls were lined with protruding 2x4's that supported the walls one of which he was tied to. With no light to see with every time his uncle would open the door and come down the stairs the light that filtered past him and down was nearly blinding, the punishment he had decided on was simply to shove him and push him against the 2x4 he was tied to while asking him what he heard, after a few days of this he'd simply closed his mouth and stared at the floor knowing that any answer he gave would only make his uncle angrier as would the silence he gave him now but it had afforded him the pleasure of thinking that maybe...just maybe he was standing up to him in his own way.
As his time down in the basement had stretched through the week the voices of his parents and his muggle teachers had slowly edged their way into his brain and kept him company some uttering words of comfort and others telling him that he was no good or just a failure and those voices eventually took on the brutish shape of his uncle which he'd now hated with a fury that no young boy could hope to understand or control. Two days before his parents were to arrive it seemed as though his punishment was for fun now the chain he was bound with was tightened hourly now until he could barely stand up or sit down, the left side of his back continually rubbing against the rough edge of the wood until his shirt all but shredded and eventually fell off. Seeing this his uncle had asked him if he found it fun to ruin the clothes he'd given him recieving no answer and nothing more then a glance from Gerrard he grasped him by the shoulders and moved him up and down against the rough 2x4 for what seemed like an eternity. For the first time in days Gerrard had heard his own voice in screams and no coherant words after his uncle had worn himself out he returned up the stairs and slammed the door shut still muttering to himself. Gerrard lay limply against the wooden post praying for the pain to finish him, every time he would try to move the splinters of the wood would dig in, not allowing him to move away from the post, his back and most of the back portion of his pants were now caked in dried blood. On the day of his parents arrival his uncle had once again returned to the basement and with a key in hand he unlocked the chain not uttering a single word to Gerrard as he took him once again by the shoulders and with no mercy or quarter simply hefted him away from the post, his voice all by gone from the previous night trying to free himself every voice in his head screamed to the point where he thought his head would explode each of them feeling the pain which he was now too numb to acknowledge. Once again back in his room and his eyes very slowly re-adjusting to the light he whimpered as his uncle removed the largest of the slivers and tossed a pair of clean clothes on the bed ordering him to get dressed and walking out with a slam of the door that would echo in Gerrard's memory forever. Dressed and packed and the next half an hour being no more then a blur to him, his parents looking ragged and tired but so joyful to see their son and his uncle...that man....joking and laughing and telling him that they had a wonderful summer together, gritting his teeth and remembering his promise that he made with each passing day simply smiled at his parents and nodded gratefully accepting his escape. On the drive home he'd never left the arms of his mother though she had never known why he refused to sit in the back seat alone she had happily sat next to him. With his arms wrapped tightly around the existance and the memories he wanted, the summer had begun to disappear and the dawning of his first year at school was yet again an excitement to him. The following two weeks were possibly the most restful of his life as he had forced the memories of that past summer to submerge themselves and he wrapped himself up in the coming school year, his visit to Diagon Alley and seeing all of his potential classmates in the coming year. As the day finally came when it was time to leave he'd spent his remaining time with his parents, every moment that all of them could spare to be together, Gerrard had never known wether his parents knew what had transpired over that summer and he'd never asked nor had they and it remained a silent point of history between the three of them. As he entered the train and after his trunk had been stored he'd wandered around looking for a place to sit and though the first rooms he hadn't asked just simply walked by and glanced in not recognizing anyone and as his search would have come up in vain the last car he'd stopped by was nearly full the occupants were girls and most of them were wrapped up in a heated discussion followed by lapses of giggling. Something had come over him and he simply watched his gaze falling upon the one who seemed to be instigating all of the discussion and in a moment that had he'd never even considered she returned his gaze and simply smiled inviting him in as if it was no big deal. Taking the chance and accepting he sat down with nothing more then a whispered hello at the entire group which had been responded to with a great amount of giggling before they had returned to their discussion which had turned to the upcoming arrival at Hogwarts. As none of them had introduced eachother which had been perfectly fine with Gerrard save the girl who had invited him in, he'd wanted to know who she was but couldn't find the nerve to ask, the group gathered up their things as the train arrived at the school and filed out, after taking a moment and finding his courage he snatched up his things and found his way out, trying to remain as quiet and out of the way as possible.~Sorting and the First Night~
As he stepped from the train he was quickly swept up by the flow of students most of them older and heading for the carriges to take them into the school so each of them could prepare for that nights dinner and sorting of the first years. Unsure exactly of what to do Gerrard wavered in his steps and after a moment the bellowing call of Hagrid asking for the first year students to follow him carried over the chatter of the surrounding students. Grateful for some direction he turned and weaved his way through the groups of people, at this age he had not yet grown into himself still standing a bit shorter then most and wirey framed but any muscle that he had on him was well defined. Finally coming up to the back of the group which had already started moving away with Hagrid in the lead and the only sound in the evening air was the chattering of the first years staring in awe at the castle in the distance. Loading each of them onto the boats they glided silently across the water at first just quietly as each of them gawked but then slowly conversations began again. From listening he found that he was sharing a boat with three other students; Zarek Yeran, Milicent Bullstrode and David Nelson, the girls which he had seen and sat with in the car on the train had all but disappeared on their own boats to Hogwarts. After the restful journey to the school the bustle had begun again and all of the students bounded out and at the direction of Hagrid entered the school in a flurry of robes and excitement. At the top of a short staircase there stood a tall and somewhat older looking witch in emerald and black robes holding a neatly rolled and tied piece of parchment, staring through square edged glasses down as each of the students stopped and simply stared. Gerrard who had been shuffled to about the center of the group was staring up and soon the deputy headmistress introduced herself as Professor McGonagall and explained to them that the sorting would soon take place, after a few nervous moments spent on the steps she returned and beckoned them in. Having heard about this from his parents and their friends Gerrard simply walked into the hall, two by two the students filed in and milled around in front of the tables, some of the students shrinking into the middle group wanting to avoid the scrutiny of the older students and still others wanting to eagerly converse with the people from the houses they hoped to enter. The first person to be sorted was Milicent Bullstrode who the sorting hat after a few moments of careful thought proclaimed her a Slytherin at this he bounded from the stool at the front and over to his house smiling broadly. Second was to Gerrard's surprise the girl which had invited him into the car on the train and finally interested in what was happening he perked up from in front of the group and smiled genuinely and the hat seeming to be somewhat stumped smiled in it's own way and in a very excited voice also proclaimed her a Hufflepuff. To his surprise again, the girl who's name he had found out was Charisse Banning, seemed more distressed then happy at this and many voices and murmur's sounded from the Slytherin table. Unsure of what this meant he watched her as she proceeded to the Hufflepuff table and sat down many of them congratulating her and welcoming her to the house. Third was the other boy that he had been on the boat with and after a few moments the hat proclaimed him a Gryffindor who's table yelled happily in acceptance of their new member, grinning broadly Zarek Yeran took his seat. Next Gerrard was called and slowly shuffled up the steps and took his place on the stool and sat quietly feeling the hat move slightly on his head and then proclaimed him to be a Gryffindor which was met with the same applaud. Stepping down from the stool and slipping into his place at his house table next Zarek who offered him a spot and two boys which were obviously twins who had quickly introduced themselves as Fred and George Weasley. After Dumbledore had finished his annual beginning of the year speech each of the students settled in and ate a large dinner before being shown where the common rooms were for their respective houses and ushered off to bed by school prefects. After surviving his first night at Hogwarts Gerrard was more then well prepared for bed and entering his room came to found out that his roomate for the year and many after this would be Zarek for which he was very grateful for, after talking for a few minutes and saying goodnight they changed and crawled into bed. Though not being able to sleep Gerrard stared at the ceiling and then finally strode over to his window and climbed onto the ledge finding the moonlight more comforting. The view outside consisted of the courtyards of Hogwarts and one of the other towers which he would later discover belonged to Hufflepuff but for now he was thankful for the rest and simply fell asleep.
_+_First Year_+_
His first year had started the way he had hoped and nothing
embarassing had happened and classes were proceeding well all with the exception of his continuing detentions with Professor Snape his potions teacher and his Ancient Runes class which he had always been hopelessly lost in. During one of his first lessons in Herbology he had been working alone on finding many of the different types of exotic plants and examples of their uses for his homework when to his surprise he heard a voice. It had been Charisse who'd said hello and inquired as to what he was up to, in his own mind that conversation had lasted an eternity when in a matter of real time it had run the span of the last five minutes of class, saying their goodbyes they parted ways. Over his first year at Hogwarts his friendship with Charisse and Zarek had been everything he was dreaming of whenever he thought of coming to school. With the help of his friends he had steadily become more and more social and out going until he bordered on being named the school nusiance but the three of them had always managed to keep eachother close to if not grounded. Classes and work proceeded as normally as they could have hoped and the friendship between the three was stronger then ever and for the first time Gerrard felt like he belonged and had been excited about returning for his second year and all the way up through his seventh. Mischief had become their past time doing everything and anything that came to mind and learning the secrets of Hogwarts from the Weasley twins who in the minds of students and rightfully so were legends when it came to this type of hobby. Learning from the best and improving on their own ideas they quickly became rivals to the twins though the five of them were always fairly close and collaborated when it suited them, the best of their pranks were still a ways off but this had been a way for all of them to escape and be themselves but above all have fun. As they all blossomed and came into their own their relationships with eachother had all but remained the same and when their first year finally came to an end they sat in their own car on the train, joking and laughing about everything they had done, all of them looking a bit more grown up and comfortable as though they'd known eachother since they were no more then toddlers. The train ride home had been mostly un-eventfull except for the odd visit from Draco Malfoy and sevral other Slytherins a few of them whos names they'd caught, among them; Macrus Flint, Milicent Bullstrode and last but not least Crabbe and Goyle. The entire group had taken to sneering at Charisse and for the most part ignoring Gerrard and Zarek try as they might to interject in the mutter of insults between the Slytherin group. As the train reached the station they each said a long goodbye and Gerrard rejoined his parents who pryed and inquired about every detail of his year as if the letters he'd sent by owl had not done it justice and in return he asked about how they had been. Feeling right at home again with himself and his own mind and most importantly with his only friends the previous summer was a long memory and one he'd all but buried.~^~Second Year~^~
His second year at Hogwarts had begun and progressed wonderfully, the beginning was smooth and his classes simply flowed and his friendship with Charisse and Zarek had blossomed into what he'd never dreamed of. In a turn of events that he'd never expected during tryouts for the Gryffindor quidditch team he had made the position of Keeper which had excited him beyond his wildest dreams, a game which when he'd started he had only dreamed of playing and now he was starting. Practices had begun to eat up most of his time but when and where he could he found the time for his school work and every spare moment to spend with his best friends. Though things had gone exactly how he'd wanted something had been missing in all of it and eventually what he had come to fear or had simply not allowed himself to see was the relationship that was blossoming between Charisse and David. David had been Hufflepuff keeper and Gerrard had always prided himself in being able to stop anything that David couldn't, which years later when he looks back he could credit most of his hardest practice sessions to his inner competition with David to gain Charisse's eye. After months of ignoring what had been obviously happening Gerrard had accepted the situation and let things go, even though in his heart he knew the next two years would mark some of the hardest of his life. At the end of second year the goodbye's between the three had been nervous and half hearted for fear of anything unwanted being raised in idle conversation, as they stepped off the train and said their last farewells and taken one last look at eachother the three seperated and went home to wait to be reunited two long years later.
^*~Third Year~*^
Third year had begun much the way that the rest had but soon Zarek and Gerrard had felt the lack of Charisse's presence and not long after had noticed what had been occupying her, David. On the first night at dinner they had all exchanged wary glances between their tables, Charisse in a way they had never seen before was active with the Hufflepuff crowd and talking excitedly amongst them and to Gerrard's dissapointment seemed even closer with David now than she had in the previous year. As the year progressed the three had seen even less of eachother and for the most part Gerrard had buried himself with homework and extra projects from any teacher that would give it to him as well as earning a place at the top of Snape's most hated list which earned him all the detention he could have ever hoped for. The distance between the three had grown considerably in a short amount of time to the point where they barely exchanged glances in the hallways as they passed eachother amidst groups of their respective house members. Through the mountains of work and the extra things to keep his mind busy Gerrard soon felt the ever widening gap in his school life at the absence of his two closest friends and in the back of his mind tried to ignore the affect of Charisse and David's blossoming relationship. Much as the others had done, Third Year slowly rolled around to it's close and the long train ride home where Gerrard and Zarek had shared a cabin but saw no more then a glimpse of Charisse as they boarded and left the train. Though at the time none of them knew it the trial of Third Year was only the beginning and Fourth Year would only continue on as would the situations between the trio.
Charisse Banning
Zarek Yeran
Cassandra MacPherson
Riona Nolan
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