"What are you doing Red?" she asked herself standing in the middle of Antarctica the windiest place on Earth. It had taken her years to get here. Namely a due to the problem with the Runespoor after a little trip to Africa that flew way of course. Beyond all beliefs after dealing with that thing. A Runespoor was a three-headed snake that are six to seven feet long, mostly associated with dark wizards. Which was unsurprising since they spent a year tracking her down and hunting her, so she had started to get a target on her back around two years ago when she took down a death eater. It had taken them ages to find her, the reappearance of Lulu helped a lot with that. It wasn't a happy reuniting either, Lulu hit her for not appearing sooner or asking for help.
"Just ask," Lulu said when she finally stopped hitting her long lost friend.
"Fine," Red caved. "How is he?"
"I don't know," Lulu smirked. "We don't really fly in the same circles anymore, but he got a teaching job. At Hogwarts."
"He did?" red smiled. "He always wanted that."
"Why don't you just go back to him?" Lulu said taking a seat next to her. "It's clear you miss him if that bag of chocolate you're carrying around has anything to say about it. Love isn't this hard."
"No but the trials and everything else that is being sent my way is," Red said gesturing to the dead runespoor behind them. "I don't want to risk his life, I've seen enough bloodshed."
"Red what is going on?"
"The trials," Red chuckled. "They're all people. Well demons anyway, a bitch to track down hence why it's been 13 years so far. So as much as I want to go back in time and do this all with him, I made the right choice. With deatheaters, demons, beasts and the elemental wackjobs. I can barely take care of myself out here; I have five pairs of underwear, two pairs of socks and three outfits left. I'm a mess."
"But a hot one," Lulu smiled nudging her. "If you go back now you can have it all back, you just have to apologise."
"He wouldn't want to hear it," Red sighed. "I told him I loved him and then left for 13 years, I can't just go back to my old life like I was never gone."
"How do you know if you don't try?" Lulu asked.
"I will when I'm done."
"And when will that be?" Lulu questioned. "Before or after you die?"
"If I die," Red said. "Then I won't have to deal with him hating me."
"He couldn't hate you if he tried," Lulu laughed. "That guy is going to love you his whole life. Just go back."
"When I'm done," Red repeated herself."I have one more left."
"You do your weird little messenger thing when you go back alright?" Lulu said pulling Red into a hug. "I miss you."
"I miss you too," Red said hugging her friend back.
"Go home to him," Lulu said kissing her cheek and then apparating away.
"Happy Birthday Nightingale," what she could only guess was Aveer said breaking her out of her memory. "Too bad it's your last."
Red turned around tornados in her palms, "We'll see about that. Aveer."
"So you've heard of me," Aveer smiled equally holding up tornadoes. "Good, I like to have a reputation."
"Well it's about to end," Red smirked.
Red threw a tornado her way while commando rolling out of the way of the one coming towards her. The winds picked up and Red felt likes she was in the eye of the storm, the magic was coursing through her and suddenly she and Aveer were in the centre of it. Both rising into the air, into the thick of it all.
Snow was rising and avalanches were built and tumbled down. Red was flying and not on a broomstick for once, this was pure magic. If it wasn't a battle to the death she would really be enjoying herself a lot more. Cracks of lightning and thunder was happening all around them and Aveer was cracking.
"Hurry up," Red yelled out. "I have a life to get back to. Kind of."
"You haven't seen the half of it yet," Aveer cried out when a lightning bolt hit her.
"Funny looks like your holding back," Red teased. "Or maybe I'm just stronger."
The world went hazy around this point, clouds were everywhere and rain was pouring down stronger than ever before. Red couldn't even see anymore, she just waved her arms and hoped she was making a hit. Reminding her of the good old days playing Quidditch, just aim and hope for the best. Not the best motto of course, but they won most years.
Then finally the rain stopped, the snow fell and Aveer was left on the ground. Red slowly floated down to the ground, landing softly on the snow. She let out a little chuckle It's over she thought.
She could go back now, right? Go back to London and try and fix what she had broken.
*/*/*
"Stop following me," Red called over her shoulder to the chick that had been following her ever since she landed in London. Now she was walking down the street ready to make the most uncomfortable entrance of her life. "Seriously stalking is not an attractive quality."
"It's Alison," she said.
"I don't care who you are I just want you gone," Red told her in the politest way possible whilst being pissed off. Picking up her pace trying to put distance between them.
"Well that's just not going to happen," Alison said jogging up next to her. "So sit down and let's talk."
Red sighed and took a seat or a nearby bench, if there was once thing she had learnt in the past 14 years it was to not disobey the wishes of an element trying to be nice to you. Alison was what Red was referring to as Spirit.
"Shoot then Ali," Red said gesturing for her to take a seat.
"So you completed your trials," Alison smiled. "The council wanted to congratulate you, you can control your powers now. You're going back home?" she stated, it may have been formed as a question but there was no mistaking it for an order.
"That was the plan," Red replied. "Kind of anyway."
"Kind of?" she raised her left eyebrow. How do people do that?
"Yes kind of, in case you haven't noticed it's not like I went to the market for coffee fourteen years ago," Red sighed and now she felt ready to run in the opposite direction. I mean who knew if Remus was really in there.
"Well then," Alison stood up and dusting herself off and with a wave she said "Goodbye Nightingale."
And with that her stalker was gone, leaving only a purple smoke behind her and a small white, was that a business card?
Alison Saint James
Here to Guide and Help Lost Souls
0456-555-923
Was that her way of getting Red to call her? Yeah a likely story, either way Red took the card and put it in the pocket of her shorts.
Taking one last look at the note Dumbledore had sent her, 12 Grimmauld Place. The old house of her old friend Sirius Black a place she had once helped him enact a little revenge. The house had parted for her, all she had to do was knock. Simple right?
Guess who's back next chapter. Get ready for some more Red and Remus fun times.
