Disclaimer: Harry Potter doesn't belong to me... The character annoys me sometimes – how come he gets such a cool fandom and acts so mopey anyway? Luckily he's a lot cooler in fanfiction ;) And gay! *wolfish smile*
Author's note: The first real chapter *yay*, next update some time next week... I think... Unless inspiration hijacks my life and I go on a crazy writing spree. It have happened before!
A small farm on the outskirts of Retezat National Park, Romania. May 19th 2002
She tucked her lunch down the small bag she carried over her shoulder and the stick into the pocket in her jacket – she didn't go anywhere without it, that just felt wrong. She made sure the scarf was tied in a tight nod so her hair would keep out of her eyes and that she hadn't forgotten anything she would need later. Irina was doing the dishes in the kitchen humming softly to herself along the radio playing Tell Me Why. She was beyond excited about the Eurovision that was coming up soon. She was sure Romania was going to win this time. Tatiana pressed a soft kiss to the old woman's hair.
"I'm leaving now," she said softly in Rumanian as to not disturb the blissful moment.
"Be careful my child," Irina answered with a happy smile.
"Don't worry, I'll just take the sheep on a small trip into the Park. I'll be back before dinner." She left the woman in the kitchen and gave her a small wave when she spotted her in the window.
The group of sheep had been bigger but not by much. Unfortunately the Rumanian economy had been on a bit of a fall down recently and everyone could feel it. Irina and Stefan and their farm helper and "adopted" daughter Tatiana felt it too, as they had to sell some of the sheep to pay for all of their expenses.
The young woman was now watching the herd carefully to avoid any accidents. She admired the distant blue mountains and breathed in the clear mountain air. She took off her jacket around noon when the sun was on it's highest and all the sheep were grassing peacefully around the small meadow. She pulled her lunch out of her bag an eyed the small amount of food sadly. She was hungry but she knew they couldn't afford much. After quickly finishing the food Irina had packed for her she leaned back against the big rock letting the sun warm her face. She contemplated taking off her shirt as the early summer heat made small drops of perspiration appear on her forehead, but decided against it - you never knew if anyone would show up. She took a sip of water from her bottle and lay down on the ground closing her eyes and savouring the moment.
She could smell the sweet smell of grass, the sharp smell of sheep and the warm smell of the sun warming the the big rocks around her.
She could feel the grass beneath her and the sun above her.
She could hear the quiet shuffling of the sheep as they ate and stones rolling down the mountain not far away.
She bolted up from her peaceful position when the sheep started bleating and moving around restlessly. She did her best to calm them down, tying some of the more nervous sheep to various bushes when she looked up and saw one of the younger ones dart away into a small group of trees infuriatingly far away. She sighed, grabbed her lucky stick, and ran after it, desperately hoping it wouldn't stray that far.
She fought her way through a bushy area certain that she heard the sheep's desperate bahs close by, but not completely sure she was walking the right way. A strange but rather loud noise made a shiver run down her back and her heart speed up with fear, but somehow she couldn't help but walk towards it. She wasn't aware that any big animals in the woods and the sound had seemed big. Her curiosity was afire as her walking picked up and she ran along a animal trail and around the corner created by a big rock.
Her eyes widened at the sight that met her when she entered the large flat opening in the terrain.
A group of 4 men were seemingly fighting to calm down a dragon while waving sticks, very much like the one she always carried in her pocket. She stepped a few steps closer, gaping at the unfamiliar and honestly more than a bit intimidating sight of the dragon standing on it's hind legs flapping it's wings exasperatedly. She stepped closer again as she withdrew her stick from the back pocket in her old, saggy jeans, curiously eyeing the way red light shot from the ends of the men's sticks.
The dragon turned it's large head and fixed it's furious glance at her. Every hair on her body stood on end. She was frozen when the big creature opened it's mouth and drew in air.
"STUPEFY!" She recognized her voice but she didn't understand the words that left her lips. She didn't understand what made fiery red light erupt from the end of her stick but she understood the way the dragon's knees seemed to buckle and the way it fell down unconscious.
Then she did the same.
"Esti bine?" Tatiana flinched at the light that shone in her eyes and the poorly pronounced Rumanian.
"If you'd get that light out of my eyes, I'd be perfectly fine." She heard a quiet gasp and rubbed her eyes with a tired sigh. She glanced around her and recognized a big green heap as the dragon. It was actually rather beautiful, and it looked so peaceful as if it was sleeping and dreaming something nice. Serene even.
"She's British!" The bad Rumanian-pronouncing voice called in slightly accented English to someone.
"I'll go get Charlie, he should know this." The deep melodious voice had a heavy middle-eastern accent. How she knew that she had no idea, she hadn't been further away from the farm than you could make it back before nightfall.
She pushed herself in a sitting position and looked at the skinny guy in front of her looking back at her with worried eyes. "Are you al right Miss? I don't think it's wise for you to..." He looked resigned when she got to her feet. "...Move around so quickly after fainting."
"I feel fine. And now I will go home, thank you." She turned her back and looked right into the chest of a tall broad-chested man. Two identical broad-chested man-chests actually. With almost-identical amused faces as one of them had a horrid scar running from his eyebrow down his cheek. "If you would please get out of my way, gentlemen?" They looked at something behind her.
"You aren't going anywhere little Missy before you tell me what on earth you were thinking, walking into a dragon reservation without any safety precautions beside your wand and stupidity?" Tatiana turned at the sound of an angry voice and found a very tanned man with fiery red hair stalking towards her. He was normal height but his naked arms were pure muscle, and his short sleeved shirt was tight enough to reveal an equally fit torso.
"I had no idea this was a dragon reservation. I didn't know that dragons existed. Now I will leave. I apologize for any problems I may have caused but before you say anything I will remind you that I did in fact help you with... whatever you were doing when I arrived."
"What do you mean you didn't know dragons existed?" The red head had grabbed her arm when she turned to walk away. Up close you could see that he in fact wasn't tanned, just so very freckled it looked like he was covered in one big freckle. It had a very intriguing effect.
"Exactly what I said. Would you mind letting go of my arm? I have sheep to herd and dinner to be home for."
The man frowned. "Why are you herding sheep? And how could you not know about dragons? You're a witch for Merlin's sake! And a very capable one judging from your little show-off." The blond guy who had tried to keep her lying on the ground nodded energetically.
"A witch? Right!" If it hadn't been so very unladylike, Tatiana would have snorted. "If you're done messing with my head, I would like for you to let go of my arm."
"Are you denying that you have a wand and cast a spell a moment before?" She really couldn't do that. A tall strong built, but still somewhat androgynous, looking person stepped next to the red head and whispered something in his ear. He frowned and nodded thoughtfully before letting go of Tatiana's arm. "We would like for you to stay and help. We recently lost one from our team, and we could really use the reinforcement as you saw first hand today."
Tatiana remembered the roaring dragon with a shutter and shook her head. "I appreciate the offer - I think - but as I already mentioned, I have a job. I herd sheep and I have to go and make sure that they are all okay now. I know," she added when she recognized the look on the red head's face, "I think you might be right about the witch part, but that doesn't change that I have obligations elsewhere." She turned on her heals and gave the identical men a stern glance that made them move out of her way and walked briskly out away from the group.
She started running when she came out of hearing range. Her heart was hammering in her chest and her thoughts were mushy and incoherent.
Everything made sense.
Nothing made sense.
She returned to the meadow where the sheep were bleating sadly and she hurried and unleashed the tied up ones. She remembered the one she had been chasing and decided to let it be. She pulled her jacket on and leaned against the oak tree noticing that she was shaking slightly. Slowly sliding to the ground her hand tightened around the polished stick.
Wand.
It was a wand.
She rubbed her eyes and glanced at the sun. It was time to go home anyway. Irina would make her feel at ease again. She would envelope her in a warm hug and Stefan would pat her shoulder and tell her that she probably fell asleep in the sun, and he really shouldn't make a child like her do a grown-ups job. She smiled and imagined the scene as she collected all the sheep and started leading them back the trail they came from. It was only a small half hour walk but it was enough to make the shaking disappear and her good mood return. She was humming Tell Me Why when she turned the corner and spotted not the idyllic but poor farm but a big pile of rubble, and several large boulders.
Tatiana dropped to her knees at the sight.
Something in her heart seemed to burst. The feeling was somewhat familiar but that didn't make it feel any better. Somewhere inside the big pile of rubble were the closest thing to parents that she had ever had. Every thought of the sheep was forgotten when she ran to the ruin that was her home and started digging into the loose dirt. She cried for Irina and Stefan but received no answer, increasing her effort every time echo sent her pleading words back at her unanswered. Finally dropping down weary and exhausted after about an hour of fruitless digging in the dirt she slumped to the ground painful sobs leaving her lips and ripping through her chest as she gasped for breath.
The tears streaked her dirt covered face leaving clean paths down her cheeks, the dirty drops dripping onto her sweat-stained, just as dirt-covered shirt. Her jacket lay long forgotten where the sheep had waited restlessly before wandering off. Without thinking she withdrew her wand and held it in front of her.
"Accio Irina and Stefan," she whispered. The word was unfamiliar but somehow still eerily familiar. Anyway, they felt right and she was rewarded when the rubble started shifting and two lifeless figures rushed from the ground and flew right into her chest, knocking her over.
She sobs increased when the familiar faces looked lifelessly into the sky, the eyes clouded, their mouths breathless. Agony clenched her heart, forcing all air from her lungs and refusing any to enter. She clutched the two bodies to her body and cried and cried and cried till the sun had set and she didn't have any tears left. She looked at the stick she was still holding in her right hand. It had proven to be useful and she waved it tentatively at the ground in front of her. The dirt shifted and a deep broad hole formed at her feet. Waving the wand at her "adoptive" parents made them lift a bit from the ground, she moved the wand slowly towards the impromptu grave and the bodies followed the movement. Lowering the wand made the bodies descend into the hole. Unsure of what to do when the bodies softly hit the bottom, Tatiana flicked her wand to the side, making the the remains of the man and the woman bump into the side of the grave. Shocked Tatiana dropped her wand, making the bodies lie still in the pit. She gave a relieved breath and ran a hand trough her unruly hair to calm her nerves. Picking up the wand again, she waved it at the grave making the dirt reposition itself into it's original place, covering Irina and Stefan utterly and completely. Drained, Tatiana fell to the ground, slowly crawling to her jacket and curling up with it around her to cover her from the night chill.
Everything has ended, she thought to herself as she lied on her back and watched the stars appear above her. But all's so peaceful anyway.
There weren't any energy left in her body but sleep avoided her like spiders avoided a basilisk.
Whatever that meant.
She didn't feel Irina's and Stefan's presence. They didn't magically appear in front of her, telling her what to do now that they had left. They didn't tell her not to feel guilty. They were dead in the ground and Tatiana was alive.
Tatiana was alive and she would stay that way.
She would live for their sake, and make the best of it for their sakes.
Tomorrow she would return to the men guarding the dragons and ask if she could still have the job they offered her.
She really wanted to see that dragon again. Perhaps it could bring her some peace too.
Tell Me Why was the Rumanian song in the Eurovision in 2002. I don't remember who sang it, but it did some research on it!
Anyway! I hope you enjoyed it! Please let me know if you have any comments of any kinds ^^