● 𝐋𝐚𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐧 𝐕𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐬 • second • 𝐒𝐥𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧

THE PLOTLINE.

xx.xxxxxx14. the timeline. xx.xxxxxxxxpre-hogwarts. xx.xxxxxxxxfirst year. xx.xxxxxxxxsecond year. xx.xxxxxxxxthird year. xx.xxxxxxxxfourth year. xx.xxxxxxxxfifth year. xx.xxxxxxxxsixth year. xx.xxxxxxxxseventh year. xx.xxxxxxxxadult. xx.xxxxxx15. daughter of fate. xx.xxxxxx16. the trappings.

xx.xxxxxx17. tenebrolux. xx.xxxxxxxxtenebrae [darkness]. xx.xxxxxxxxintertwined. xx.xxxxxxxxlux [light]. xx.xxxxxx18. the choice. xx.xxxxxx19. the corruption. xx.xxxxxx20. the wrath. xx.xxxxxx21. the humanity. xx.xxxxxx22. the feminity. xx.xxxxxx23. the love. xx.xxxxxx24. the conclusion. xx.xxxxxx25. the writer.

You see an innocent and gleaming being, a light in the darkness, washed over by a blanket of darkness. The former angel turns into a vengeful woman, and plunges into a dark bottomless pit. You instanteously realise that it is Lauren Loratrix Vanes, of whom you were warned about earlier. You gulp, but some mysterious force pulls you towards her. Yet as you follow her, your vision is clouded by a grey mist, touching the edge of a devouring darkness, hungry to eliminate all the light that remained in the world. You try to stop the force, but your legs are glued to the ground and you cannot move. In the mist, you see her for what she would become. A vile, pathetic, monstrous, undeserving, woman. But you blink, and she is young and angelic once again.

THE MIST.

LAUREN LORATRIX VANES is a sleek young woman and can be described as slender and willowy. Her icy blue eyes appear to be capable of staring into others' minds at first glance, which may cause peers to isolate her due to the eerie sensation she brings to many. Billowing, wavy blonde hair roughly outlines her diamond-shaped face, dangling loosely on its end. Her rosy cheeks highlights her unique aesthetic as sleek and stylish, which is naturally inherited from birth.

She is, furthermore, a young, ambitious woman with academically-oriented goals. She strives for intelligence and often reads her siblings' Hogwarts textbooks for fun, and has ambitions to stand out from her peers and be treated differently. She can also be described as sly or cunning. She was naturally gifted at memorization and could charm people easily, which explains how she gains the praises of her parents with minimal effort -- they would yowl with surprise and pride if she did so much as sprinkle confetti in a family gathering. Often the favourite child of her parents due to her immense charming, her older siblings, Arianna and Felix, would secretly envy her recieved favouritism and plan an act of revenge, quite unfortunately diminishing the relationship between Lauren and her siblings.

When she was only 4, she could expertly find ways to bypass her family's strict rules and have everything her way, and could even fool her astute parents when she set her mind to it. She was intelligent, yes, and extremely cunning even in youth.

At first, life was perfect. She was her parents' favourite daughter, described as the "perfect little witch" from when she was between the ages of 0-4. Until the day where everything was changed, and her whole world was swept away like dust by the wind. And it was just because of a stupid instance of magic. And that had been that. She could do nothing to change it, and regret still filled her mind whenever she thought of it. But there was that uncontrollable rage when she heard Blaze's name, as he had robbed her of her reputation within her family, and had to live in constant misery for the remainder of her childhood.

Blaze, the Vanes family cat, was excitedly jumping around Lauren's normally-silent room. He pawed the ground, sniffing Lauren's bed curiously, knawed a chunk of silk out of her blanket, and licked it. Recoiling in disgust, Blaze threw down his so-called "meal" on Lauren's bed, and began to dive beneath Lauren's blankets in his search for food. He had been fed only the day before, yet his stomach was grumbling like Lauren's great-grandfather. Blaze licked the rosy cheeks of the unsuspecting Lauren, then bent his head to cuddle up beside her. Her sweet scent filled his nose as he drifted into --

His paws were sticky with blood, flowing out of Lauren's arm like a current. His claw marks were engraved deeply in her arm, and she let out a shrill scream which distorted the air. Then the truth dawned on him. He, Blaze, had accidentally clawed Lauren.

Lauren saw her sticky blood flowing out into her white bed, and a scream of pure horror and disgust filled the air. She glanced at her right side, and saw the terrorized eyes of Blaze shining under the covers. Fury boiled inside her. That wretched cat, had he grown so careless as to injure her so badly? Or was it intentional?

She glared at Blaze with outrage, who expeditiously raced into her room doorway, clearly trying to notify her parents or attempting to escape from the consequences of his actions. Blinded by pure rage, she gritted her teeth, and had caused the flames to rise into the air and sing the edge of her mahogany bedside table, turning the expensive, fine wood into blackened, smoking crust before extinguishing itself as quickly as it had appeared. Thankfully, Blaze had escaped Lauren's wrath, carefully dodging the flames and whimpered in the corner of the room, shaken but unharmed. Lauren herself also remained unharmed but was terrorised, staring with horror as she sat upright on her bed.

THE CHANGING; THE MIST STARTS IT ALL.

From that moment on, Lauren's family had appeared to disown her, and she was no longer the favourite child as they viewed her as a monster for nearly causing fatal injury for their beloved Blaze. When status and belonging meant everything to her world, losing it was like losing her soul -- yes, she still had over-ambitious goals, and was more frustrated by her parents' consequent hatred for her than guilty for her uncontrollable anger. She was still the Lauren they loved -- no, they once loved, but they had turned against her -- the whole of her family had -- just because of her lack of self-control. She had lost everything, and naturally nobody was going to sympathise.

x

Lauren never wanted to be a Parselmouth. Ever since she singed the edge of her maloghany bedside table at the age of 6, Lauren's family hated her more than anything. Well, except for Aunt Loratrix and the Dark Arts. Aunt Loratrix was a Parselmouth, and even worse, a Slytherin. She was always the odd one out in the Vanes Family, a family that only consisted of Ravenclaws. That was, before Lauren had been born.

She was ten. Four years have she endured the cold stares of her family, her sibling's accidental tripping of her on the stairs, and her parents' apparent ignorance of her existence. For a girl who had been treated like a golden child since when she was born, this punishment was worse than being bitten by a snake.
But her parselmouth ability had to save her. She much rathered it didn't.
The day it happened, it was Lauren's tenth birthday. She was waking from her silky bed. Her bedsheets were warm like the sun, though her heart was chilly as though ice splinters were piercing it. She opened her mouth to bellow a yowl of agony, yet she clamped her mouth shut when she heard the tiptoes of her sister, Arianna, towards the dining table where Lauren's plain, tiny present box lay.

Lauren tilted her head when she heard further movement towards her christmas box. Yet there was something other than Arianna's footsteps. Another living thing. And it still didn't make sense -- Arianna hated her with every fiber of her being. Why would she attempt to put anything into Lauren's present box? Lauren knew why when she heard the uneven footsteps of Arianna, appearing to quake with excitement and anticipation, as she hurried past her room. Stupid, quite peculiar indeed, for a Ravenclaw to underestimate her younger, appearingly disowned younger sister, Lauren remarked. She's already freaked out from how I appear to be able to read her mind, though I don't. This time, though, I know what she's up to.

Lauren waited for her deceptive sister's footsteps to disappear completely before rushing out to the living room, curling her lip. She expeditiously dashed towards her now-fuller present box, dimly aware that watchful eyes were behind her. She didn't care. All that mattered was to figure out Arianna's prank, to prove to herself that she was more intelligent than her dim-witted sister.
She peered into her present box. As usual, she got a book from Aunt Loratrix, titled "the Invisible Book of Invisibility". She stuffed it in her pyjamas just in case she couldn't find it later, but as she removed it, she caught sight of a slithering animal that lurked in the depths of her present box. Its green eyes gleamed and bared its fangs as it saw the icy blue eyes of Lauren, then slithered a few centimetres from the bottom of the box. She gulped, realising that it was nearing the top rim, and there was no escape.

Immediately, the creature jumped out of the box and into Lauren's hand, whose stomach lurched when she recognized that it was a snake. The snake lowered its fangs, ready to sink into Lauren's flesh as its abyss-like eyes shone with pure hunger, ready to devour anything, pure or tainted, into the void beyond its gnawing mouth. "Stop!" The snake halted, dazzled, then retreated back into the corners of Lauren's present box with a respectful nod. I am sorry, master, the snake replied, unmistakably terrorized and shocked.

A shrill scream filled the living room as Lauren turned to see the horrified face of Arianna, distorted as if she were being tortured. "You... you were hissing... you were talking to a s-snake! I'm telling mommy and daddy!" Her father's heavy footsteps told her that he had found out the truth. "You're a parselmouth, just like filthy Loratrix!", he exclaimed. You're gonna be a horrible Slytherin! And so you have no right to be part of our family! Oh yes, and Arianna, come with me and I'll help you recover from the shock.

Lauren cringed at her father's favouritism. Why did her family have to treat her like she was a monster because she could talk to a snake? Besides, it didn't do any harm.
In response to her question, Lauren heard her Aunt Loratrix's voice echoing in her mind, even though she was physically miles away.
"Never mind them. Just because you're a parselmouth doesn't mean you're worthless," she said.

Lauren Loratrix Vanes walks out in front of you, pools of sadness visible beneath her icy blue eyes. She dips her head towards you, as if trying to say, 'this is what happened, and I hope you understand now'. In this moment, you can finally see what drived this formerly angelic being into a monster; an embodiment of revenge.

You shudder, afraid of what else you may discover about Lauren. Her mind, her pensieve -- it was darker than you could ever have expected. But there is no escape, and the only path is onwards. You venture cautiously into her heart, afraid.

Aunt Loratrix was the only person who truly understood Lauren's frustration. She was the only family relative who would care for her during family gatherings, and only she would even talk to Lauren. She had once been disowned from the Vanes family for being a Slytherin (it should only consist of Ravenclaws), so she knew exactly how Lauren felt. She was the only one who acted like Lauren's true mother, encouraging her to stand up to her situation and become the best person she could be, while making sure to the fact that she would have enjoyment and luxury.

Over time, the Vanes family's hatred for Lauren only got stronger as her rebellion, inspired by Aunt Loratrix, grew. They went out of their way to create obstacles in Lauren's life, and vowed to make her life as miserable as possible. Bullying Lauren was standardised in her household -- it was a practice encouraged by both her parents and siblings. Scars had been embedded on her skin due to the sheer extent of their cruelty. Yet sometimes, the young Slytherin would doubt herself and wonder if her family had been in the right and she, Lauren, had been in the wrong all along, which was often triggered by being spoken to by others which hinted that they believed Lauren was indeed evil. This may serve as a relief for many, as she is extremely self-conscious and tends to reflect on the past.

As of her first year, Lauren is torn between her desire for revenge and her self-hatred. When she is reminded of her family (this is not guranteed), she may start to hear voices in her head telling her that she does not deserve anything and is undeserving of even life itself. She tends to have low self-esteem after she moves to Hogwarts and seperates from her aunt, who often gives her the support she needs to be confident in her capabilities.

And since then, Lauren only craved for revenge. For their demise. And her main ambitions were to surpass them, give them a taste of their own medicine, and show them who she really was made of. If her family were to think in a twisted way that she was a monster for singing her bedside table, she would become one, act like one, so that she would be punished for a crime she did commit instead of one she didn't. To Lauren who valued justice and equality above all else, it was fair.

She had found it progressively hard to contain her emotions, which would lead to a shift in personality and steer her from the traits of her old self towards the dark arts, which she is starting to be tempted towards. It serves as a promising strategy to prove to herself and her family that they were wrong all along about her, a sweet vow of revenge towards those who have wronged her in the past. She would not stop at any cost to achieve her goals, which may make her a dangerous witch in the future.

Often, she attempts to convince herself and others that she does not care about how her family thinks of her and does to her, but her internal monologue and actions clearly prove otherwise. She merely wishes that she would be strong enough to act indifferent towards her family, and often tries to hide from the truth.

Furthermore, Lauren tends to be highly insecure and thinks differently when faced with similar situations due to her trauma at such a young age. To clarify, most of it was not Lauren's fault; she in some twisted ways believe that she should be held accountable for actions she did not cause or do, as she holds justice in utmost regard. As a result, she is as quick to judge herself as she would others.