A/N: Hi! Thanks for checking out The Lightning Tree! I just figured I'd warn y'all, it is just alittle Mary-Sue-ish. Thanks again for reading, and don't be shy to review, it means the world!
It had been a long day in ninth grade for the girl. She had always been one to prefer fantasy. She had finally seen Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and loved it. However, while her 'friends' went on about Newt, bowtruckles, No-majes, and the newest ships, this girl sat alone.
That was where she usually sat. It was the same every day. Morning. Stress. Get dressed. Eat. Stress. Car. Lecture from Dad. First period. Language Arts. Stress about undone math. Second period. Algebra 1/2. Stress about pop quizzes in Science. Third period. History. Take notes. Sore hands. Lunch. Alone at the end of the lunch table. Science. More notes. More sore hands. Mindless PE. Ride home. Lecture from Dad. Get home. Do homework until Dad yells for her to stop. Eat dinner. Repeat.
She sat alone at the lunch table, and she tuned out what the stuck-up cheerleaders were talking about. Tune it out. Hold the stone mask. Keep the stone heart. Don't get hurt. Ignore the taunting glares. Think about something else.
Credence. That boy had lived a life far worse than hers. Only to be slaughtered by those who should have protected him. What ignorance. What stupidity. What negligence on the part of both the wizarding and the no-maj law.
It made her blood boil. It made her want to tear through something with her knife. It made her want to fix it.
This is wrong. This is something I'd fix if I could. This is something someone needs to fix. I would do it, if I could. Oh, how I wish I could...
Her thoughts fled at the sound of the lunch bell, and she packed away her untouched food.
Her father dropped her off at the house, but no one was home. She inwardly smirked, the emotional numbness of routine wearing off, thankful that she lived on a col-de-sac with woods at the end.
These she fled to, the familiar trunks and branches reaching like Pickett had for Newt's fingers.
She continued to run until she reached the Lightning Tree. It was shaped like an upside-down lightning bolt. She shrugged off her backpack, somehow keeping her purse on her shoulder, and climbed the tree.
Credence crept back into her thoughts. People from school had liked her even less when they found out he was one of her favorites. She did not regret it, though. If those that were her age were THIS stuck up, she wanted no part of them. Not even their friendship.
That poor boy. I wonder if he had ever seen Central Park. Or climbed a tree. Probably not, with that scary...with that Dementor of a woman.
She fell asleep in the Lightning Tree's firm embrace, and thoughts of Credence flooded her mind.
The girl woke somewhere entirely different. Well, she woke in an entirely different tree. The warm light of spring in the small town's sunlight woods had been traded for the cold light of an even colder, rather much more snowy, Central Park.
Looking down at herself, she wasn't dressed the same either. She wore a simple, long sleeve, ankle length collared dress and stockings. Black Mary Janes covered her feet, and a threadbare winter coat attempted to shelter her shoulders.
With a gripping of her elbows, she stormed away to the Subway system. Maybe someone there could explain. A policeman, perhaps? Somebody had some 'splainin to do, all right!
She found New York to be slightly more empty than usual, and far less technologically advanced. It reminded her of the New York that Credence would have known.
Once near the subway, there were people crowding around, and there were witches and wizards using some sort of protection spell. It looked similar to the one used at Hogwarts in The Deathly Hallows Part 2.
Somehow, she walked straight through.
Once inside the underground tunnels, she wandered about until she saw the aurors about to blast poor Credence.
Her ire at this rose. It bloomed. It sparked. But then the first spell was cast. With Credence's cry of agony, she yelled at the top of her lungs.
"STOP!"
She must have really been loud, because everything paused. Nobody moved. Then just as they were going to throw the next spell, she stepped in front of him.
"No." It came out as a whisper. A thought so loud, it caressed the ears of only the closest people.
While every person there watched, the thin frame of the fifteen-year-old girl padded over to where the Obscurus was.
"Hi, you must be Credence," she greeted congenially, "I'm Kierrah."
The darkness groaned.
"I wish I could say I understand all of what you are going through. I know that would be what you most need to hear."
The dark force seemed to dim just a bit, and she could see the boy's pain-wracked body glowing white inside.
"But the truth is, Credence, I only understand a tiny bit." She stepped a good bit closer. "I understand what it is to be alone. To want only a single friend, but to find none."
She heard protests from the various persons behind her, but she stepped directly in to the inky pain. Her body instantly weakened, but she bore it well.
"There is a lot to people that you haven't seen yet, Creed—May I call you Creed?—and I know that that terrible excuse for a woman showed you only the hatred a soul can harbor, but people can also hold love in their hearts." All of this was said as she made her way to the pained Credence, "It is okay to be afraid. It is okay to be hurt."
She was kneeling in front of him now.
"And Credence, it is okay to be angry."
He looked up at the soothing voice's source. A girl not much younger than him. She looked at him, with unfaltering warmth, and the pain that was this darkness dimmed a little. He saw that she was sharing the weight of this pain. This force he did not want to control. He feared it. He feared what it might do to him.
"I don't care what that woman said or thought...you are the strongest man of your age I've ever had the privilege of knowing."
She smiled warmly at him. Maybe he could trust her? She pulled him into an embrace, the warm gesture unexpected, and the recipient unaccustomed.
Then, scarcely more than a whisper, "I believe in you, Credence. And I know we just met, but I'm sure my home has room for another." She smiled, and he could feel the darkness leave. Where as the pain usually returned full force, Credence could not feel a single bit of it now. It was a freedom he had not felt in years.
She had a warm smile on her face, and tear tracts on her cheeks.
"So, what do ya say?" She questioned, still smiling her sunny, closed lip smile.
He could only manage a finite nod, before the Aurors came after him.
And, apparently, her. She pushed the slightly older boy behind her. She knew they wouldn't kill a no-maj. Too much risk of discovery. So she did something quite possibly very foolish.
"If you hurt him," She began, "I will expose you every place you ever go. You will not be able to hide from me. I will use any. means. necessary. and I will make your life a living pain."
They all seemed to rethink it then, all but one.
Obliviate. The spell was silent, but it didn't matter. She pushed Credence out of the way, and landed side by side with him on the ground.
An idea took root and bloomed in her mind.
"Credence, hold my hand, please."
He looked at her strangely, before tentatively obliging. His hand was cold and heart breaking. Scars covered his entire palm, and many of his fingers. She gave it a gentle squeeze.
"I hope this works."
She thought of home, of school, of the Lightning Tree. But she had to ask before she took him.
"Creed, are you sure you want to come with me? You probably will not be able to return."
He hesitated and gave a shaky nod.
She continued thinking of home. But this time, she imagined Credence there, too. She imagined happy memories she hoped to craft. She turned her head and smiled brightly at him. The edge of his lip twitched into what she hoped was a reciprocation.
At that moment she irrevocably thought of him as a brother.
No sooner had that happened, then a warm, golden glow surrounded them, immediately followed by sleep.
Thud. She fell from the tree. Finding the breath to be knocked from her lungs, she lay there for a moment.
That was when it all came racing back.
Credence!
She shot up from the ground, and saw him sleeping peacefully in the tree. She smiled her warm, closed lipped smile, and quietly climbed the tree.
Seating herself in front of him on the branch, she gently touched his shoulder.