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They say he Apparated to Hogwarts but I saw him walk out of the forest.
The Forbidden Forest. Out of bounds to students. Ogg spent most of his time chasing James Potter and Sirius Black away from it. They always went to the same place, where a giant spider supposedly lived. I always went to the pine trees. Ogg never found me.
I would sit on the forest floor, cushioned with pine trees, and wrap my arms around the briars to smell the roses, deep red and pearly white. The thorns left red welts on my skin and my blood stained the forest floor. The high arc of trees blocked out the sky but here and there was a clearing with a glowing pillar of sunlight.
He called himself Lucius but I saw him before he any name at all.
Sirius teases me. He pulls on my red hair and charms lilies into my clothes. "You look like a lily yourself, don't you lilly?" He pushes me outside and laughs, "Go and get some freckles, Lily girl."
I don't like lilies. They rip apart too easily. Roses bite back. They make you bleed.
He walked out of that golden light. His hair was almost the same colour; maybe a little paler. His eyes were cold and distant. How you would expect an Angel's eyes to look like. Far away and not interested in petty mortal affairs.
He turned and looked at me. I had a frightening urge to start praying. Not to him; there was nothing good about him. If he was an Angel he was one of the ones who lived in hell. One of the Rebel Angels.
He smiled and his face became less perfect more..human. As if he was not used to smiling but something about me had amused him greatly.
Then he turned and walked away.
I left when the sun began to set and the air grew chilly. If I am honest with myself, I expected him to come back and fly away into the sky or disappear down to Hell.
I made it back in time for the feast. Remus Lupin dumped food onto my plate, claiming I was too thin and I was just about to start the long and skilled process of magically transferring the contents of my plate onto Peter Pettigrew's when I looked up at the teachers' table and saw him.
He had been staring at me. The candlelight turned his hair into old gold. His eyes were darker then they had been in the forest, almost black. I couldn't see his expression; the ceiling had turned to twilight blue.
"That's someone from the Ministry," I looked at Remus who was spooning yet more Casserole on my plate, "He belongs to a cult. Death heads or something." I glanced at the teacher's table but he was talking to Professor Binns.
I made a discreet hand gesture to James who ate some of my Casserole while Remus's back was turned.
"Death Eaters," I said finally picking up my fork and spearing a carrot, "Severus told me."
Sirius scowled. I often talked to Severus. I was perhaps the only person who did without telling him to `sod off'. It wasn't that I pitied him. I didn't. I appreciated his dry wit and sarcasmthat he had an endless supply of. I liked the way he listened to my ramblings as if they made sense, even though they were more tangled than the willow tree branches, which we usually sat under.
I looked at Severus now. He was looking at me. He doesn't smile but his dark eyes show that he is pleased that Sirius is so angry. House rivalries baffle me. Frankly I don't see the point.
James starts talking about some Quidditch team that no one cares about. Peter chips in eagerly even though he hasn't a clue about any sport that involves getting off his backside and doing some exercise. Remus loks bored and Sirius makes towers out of our goblets.
I look up to the teachers' table only to see that he is gone.
My carrot is still on my fork and I put it back on the plate and carefully stand up. Four pairs of eyes turn to me and Remus protests. I think he has lost count of the number of times I left in the middle of a meal.
"Remus, I have cramps," I say calmly and leave the four of them, mouths agape as I step distractedly from the room.
If I had looked back I would have seen Dumbledore's electric blue eyes fixed on me, his forehead creased in a frown.
They say he Apparated to Hogwarts but I saw him walk out of the forest.
The Forbidden Forest. Out of bounds to students. Ogg spent most of his time chasing James Potter and Sirius Black away from it. They always went to the same place, where a giant spider supposedly lived. I always went to the pine trees. Ogg never found me.
I would sit on the forest floor, cushioned with pine trees, and wrap my arms around the briars to smell the roses, deep red and pearly white. The thorns left red welts on my skin and my blood stained the forest floor. The high arc of trees blocked out the sky but here and there was a clearing with a glowing pillar of sunlight.
He called himself Lucius but I saw him before he any name at all.
Sirius teases me. He pulls on my red hair and charms lilies into my clothes. "You look like a lily yourself, don't you lilly?" He pushes me outside and laughs, "Go and get some freckles, Lily girl."
I don't like lilies. They rip apart too easily. Roses bite back. They make you bleed.
He walked out of that golden light. His hair was almost the same colour; maybe a little paler. His eyes were cold and distant. How you would expect an Angel's eyes to look like. Far away and not interested in petty mortal affairs.
He turned and looked at me. I had a frightening urge to start praying. Not to him; there was nothing good about him. If he was an Angel he was one of the ones who lived in hell. One of the Rebel Angels.
He smiled and his face became less perfect more..human. As if he was not used to smiling but something about me had amused him greatly.
Then he turned and walked away.
I left when the sun began to set and the air grew chilly. If I am honest with myself, I expected him to come back and fly away into the sky or disappear down to Hell.
I made it back in time for the feast. Remus Lupin dumped food onto my plate, claiming I was too thin and I was just about to start the long and skilled process of magically transferring the contents of my plate onto Peter Pettigrew's when I looked up at the teachers' table and saw him.
He had been staring at me. The candlelight turned his hair into old gold. His eyes were darker then they had been in the forest, almost black. I couldn't see his expression; the ceiling had turned to twilight blue.
"That's someone from the Ministry," I looked at Remus who was spooning yet more Casserole on my plate, "He belongs to a cult. Death heads or something." I glanced at the teacher's table but he was talking to Professor Binns.
I made a discreet hand gesture to James who ate some of my Casserole while Remus's back was turned.
"Death Eaters," I said finally picking up my fork and spearing a carrot, "Severus told me."
Sirius scowled. I often talked to Severus. I was perhaps the only person who did without telling him to `sod off'. It wasn't that I pitied him. I didn't. I appreciated his dry wit and sarcasmthat he had an endless supply of. I liked the way he listened to my ramblings as if they made sense, even though they were more tangled than the willow tree branches, which we usually sat under.
I looked at Severus now. He was looking at me. He doesn't smile but his dark eyes show that he is pleased that Sirius is so angry. House rivalries baffle me. Frankly I don't see the point.
James starts talking about some Quidditch team that no one cares about. Peter chips in eagerly even though he hasn't a clue about any sport that involves getting off his backside and doing some exercise. Remus loks bored and Sirius makes towers out of our goblets.
I look up to the teachers' table only to see that he is gone.
My carrot is still on my fork and I put it back on the plate and carefully stand up. Four pairs of eyes turn to me and Remus protests. I think he has lost count of the number of times I left in the middle of a meal.
"Remus, I have cramps," I say calmly and leave the four of them, mouths agape as I step distractedly from the room.
If I had looked back I would have seen Dumbledore's electric blue eyes fixed on me, his forehead creased in a frown.