Pain's no Company
Chapter 1: The Beginning
The scenery whipped by outside my window, the greens of the trees blurring and mixing until they became indistinguishable. The day was overcast, although the great clouds overhead were white. A sombre day to match my sombre mood. The last of my life was falling apart, or so it seemed. We were moving
I'd never thought much about my parent's jobs. I mean, I knew that they had them and that they were important but other that that, nothing. And now it was these jobs that were affecting my life so. I was but seven when we were told that this move was necessary. For six months, we had put it off but now there was no choice.
"Try not to be too upset, sweetie," my mother advised. I gave her an offended look but apart from that refrained from any indication that I had hear.
"Let her be, Siusan," my father said to her in his most quiet voice. Somehow, I could hear what he said. "She's only eight and all that she knows is that she's being taken away from everything that she knows. You can hardly expect her to be happy about it. Give her a few weeks to settle in and she'll start to brighten up.
"Why the ministry wants us over here I'll never understand. We can hardly be classified as ambassadors but we aren't really doing any jobs but that. You know how much I hate it when I'm not allowed to use my talents, Bhruic. This placement is going to drive me crazy.
"It should only be for a year at most. Just try not to think too much about it. That way you can avoid as much trouble as possible."
"Daddy," I cooed, pretending not to have heard my parents speaking. "Are we there yet?" My father opened his mouth to speak but at that moment, the car gave a great gasping noise and shuddered to a halt.
"Bhruic, what is that?" my mother asked, a tense note of worry in her voice. My father looked around outside his window for a moment before turning to answer m mother.
"It's nothing, just an engine problem." My mother looked doubtful but she nodded.
"I'll take Kallan for a walk while you look at it," she told my father. At his nod, I began to slide from the back seat.
My mother and I walked along the road for quite a distance, neither of us speaking. From time to time I would run ahead to pick a flower or chase a butterfly-the sort of thing young children are supposed to do. Such things would often amuse me for an hour or two but beyond that I grew bored.
It was as we were heading back to the car, perhaps five minutes from it at the pace we were going, that we saw the black cloud. My mother took one look at it and pushed me in the direction we had come from.
"Run, Kallan," she shouted. "Run and don't look back. I am going to find your father and then we'll be behind you." In heed of her words, I burst away running, taking off down the side of the road and into the forest.
Branches and twigs snagged at my shirt and pants, pulling loose stray threads. I had been running for what felt like a long time but was probably only an hour. I had yet to find a sign of my parents. Being eight years old, this frightened me out of my mind.
"Slow down little one," a gentle deep voice boomed from overhead. My eyes travelled up a long pair of equine legs, along the chest to the human torso. I could feel my jaw dropping.
"Wha...what are you?" I stammered in wonder. His face creased in a small smile and his eyes twinkled at me.
"Never heard of a centaur?" he asked and gave a deep booming laugh when he heard me gasp. "Ah, so you have. Well, little witch; I was worried for a moment. It is good to know that you magic folk are still teaching your children correctly." Noting my confused stare, he cocked his head in a very equine manner. "What is it, young witchling?"
"What do you mean by calling me a witch?" I demanded. "I'm not old, warty or evil!" He stared at me in shock.
"Did your parents not tell you? You are a witch." Seeing my disgusted look, he hurried to explain. "Witches aren't actually old, warty or evil-at least not most of them. There are some that are even younger than you, although those are few and far between. Most witches and wizards come into their powers about six to eight, some later. There are many magic folk who associate with Muggles daily and are not found out. They look all alike. Your parents were magic, unless I am mistaken." I looked up at that with hope in my heart.
"Have you seen them? Do you know where they are?" My hope fell as I saw the darkening of his eyes.
"They will not be coming back for you, little witch. They were taken because of what they were and what they stood for." My eyes filled with tears and my shoulders began to shake. The centaur looked at me worriedly and knelt slowly to put an arm around me.
"Easy, witchling. There was nothing that could have been done." I glared at him with tear-glazed eyes.
"My name is Kallan," I told him, sticking out my chin defiantly.
"And I am Damario. Now, come with me. I will take care of you until some other place can be found." He held out a hand and I took it tentatively, allowing him to help me up onto his back. He stood smoothly and began to walk. I grasped strands of his hair in my fists as he picked up his pace to canter. The chill wind whipped at my face, drying my tears as they trickled in rivulets down my cheeks.
A/N; I know that it doesn't seem to have much to do with HP yet. This is actually about two years before he was born. Later on, I will be incorporating characters that are more familiar; once she gets to Hogwarts.
