Disclaimer: Once again, I'm not going to be redundant (haha. Gotta love the irony of that statement!). Disclaimer is too self-explanatory for me to go into a whole tangent on how Harry Potter is not mine. Uch...This is the ONLY disclaimer I'm going to write.
When The Blind See by LunalitSol
(A/N- This is something of a companion to my other story When the Strong Break. I'd recommend reading what's there of that so far prior to reading this. Not necessary, but probably preferable. :) This is the prologue, thus the brevity. And the word Prologue below.)
Prologue:
(A/N- ...see? =P OK I'm done. Go on.)
"The motto was "Pax," but the word was set in a circle of thorns."
-----Rumer Godden
Lily paced the corridor, grim boredom dulling her usually vivacious eyes. She'd been assigned the post near the hospital wing. It was a good spot, in terms of catching students in their wrongdoing. Pomfrey didn't care about time. She'd heal anyone who needed it. It was up to the prefects, therefore, to find the students coming back from late night fights or falls, and make sure that they received the consequences they deserved.
Lily meandered listlessly down the corridor, trying to pay attention, despite the monotony. She 'ought to be using this time to think about her situation. To contemplate the best friend that was no more and the pig that turned out to be right. Yet, doing so entailed thinking about it. Really thinking about it. And that could only end in a breakdown, an ritual she liked to avoid at all costs and was beginning to find herself participating in far too often for her taste.
The clatter of footfalls what sounded like two corridors over caught her attention and Lily immediately rushed toward the sound, grinning despite herself. That had been absolutely perfect timing. She'd been in need of a good distraction, and here one had fallen at her figurative feet, just two corridors away. Thank God.
She swaggered towards the source of the disturbance, heels clicking satisfactorily against the cool flagstones. Finally, she reached the area and, scanning it, caught sight of a lone figure stumbling clumsily, seemingly without any idea where they were going. She rolled her eyes and smirked. Probably someone had been drinking and had decided to take their alcohol-addled self out for a stroll. Well, much as she disapproved, the drunks always were the most amusing people to catch. That and the kids doing drugs. It was a terrible thought, she knew, and she did her best to shove it down. Nonetheless, it remained as a small, uncomfortable, yet stubborn sensation of pleasure in her stomach, like unusually violent, wrought-iron butterflies.
"You there! Stop! You're out late, y'know? It's past curfew. I have to dock points and make sure you get back to your dor- Hey! I said to stop! That's it! Stop!"
She ran so that she was just behind the figure. They still didn't stop, but they didn't need to. She recognized the hair, the hight, skin. And then, she recognized the blood.