A/N: Written for HSWW (Challenges and Assignments) and THC
(THC) House: Hufflepuff; Category: Drabble; Prompt: Sunglasses [object]
(HSWW) Assignment #5: Astronomy: Uranus, write a story set in winter.
Around the World in Thirty-One Days: 21. Bolivia - AU: Blind!AU
Showtime: Crucifixus - AU!Blind
Character Appreciation: Emmeline Vance
Word Count: 578
Emmeline Vance was in the park around the area of her home. She preferred it over the last area she had resided in; it didn't hold the memories and torment of the past. It had been years since she had looked at the homes and streets of her past life that brought so much nostalgia. In fact, it had been years since Emmeline could see at all.
The fateful night that Emmeline thought her life would surely end when she was left at the mercy of Death Eaters was nothing but a distant memory in the back of her mind. She could picture it clearly in her mind if she wanted; but Emmeline didn't have to physically look at it anymore.
All of that because someone had come at the right moment and swept in like the knight in dreary robes. She always laughed at herself for the thought because the rough material of the robes was all she could identify through touch when the knight carried her in his arms.
Her eyes were closed tightly for a week when she was bedridden to recover. She tried desperately to open her eyes and see something other than faint light and darkness for what felt like eternity, which was really only a year, before conceding to the fact that they were already open; her healer confirmed that for her.
The healers couldn't do much for Emmeline in her condition, so she was released from St. Mungo's with the verification of being blind. Emmeline wouldn't let her lack of sight get her down, and attempted to perform her usual routines as normal.
It didn't go as well as she hoped. Weeks into her departure from St. Mungo's, Emmeline was assigned to a personal caregiver who would tend to her needs when she required them; so the new worker meant a new living arrangement. The only reason she agreed was due to her limited options.
Emmeline detested being perceived as weak or fragile; she was anything but weak or fragile. Yet here she was, waiting on her caregiver to arrive to the park so she could head home without a problem.
Emmeline wanted to use her cane for more than conditional purposes, but thought better of it so she could gain the power back to work along her former colleagues.
She knew the season had changed again; she could feel the cool wind kissing her cheeks and billowing her dark brown hair behind her. Her thin, rosy pink lips stretched into a small smile while she leaned her head back on the bench and felt more light touches of something hitting her face. Emmeline guessed the touches to be snowflakes.
The witch laughed earnestly to herself, pulling off her black sunglasses to reveal her glossy white eyes. She directed them towards the sky; it wouldn't bother her should a snowflake land in her eye as it could do no harm.
This was her moment of peace; her moment she could have to herself without a care in the world. Emmeline would be damned if it were taken away from her.
Her moment was over when she heard crunching in the snow coming closer to her.
"Ready to go, Miss Vance?"
She faced the direction of her helper, knowing that familiar, melodic voice. "Yes, Nina," Emmeline replied with a smile; she opened her sunglasses and placed them back around her eyes. "I'm ready."