Competition/Challenge Block
Written for/Stacked with: The Houses Competition (Year 8); Monthly Challenges for All (Year 4)
THC: Slytherin - Astronomy; Drabble ([Theme] Death; (BONUS PROMPT) [Quote] The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is tenacity. — Amelia Earhart)
MC4A: Winter Bingo (4D [Darkness]); Vocab Bingo (5E [Oath]); Swap & Shop (Books 2 [Knitting/Crochet Pattern Book])
Other Challenges: Writing in a Winter Wonderland Day 22: Magic
Word Count: 811
Beta: Ash Julliet; Hope
Warning Tag: Animal Death; Blood
A Part of Life
The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is tenacity.
— Amelia Earhart
.oOo.
Scorpius often would venture out in the gardens of Malfoy Manor when he grew bored. For a seven-year-old, boredom came often when isolated from the world, so he would try to counter it by always finding something to explore and discover in the gardens. Something always could use tending to, watered, weeded, or pruned. The boredom never lasted long when he was out in nature.
What came as unusual to Scorpius' daily wanderings was the small cluster of crows surrounding the base of one of the large oak trees where a family of squirrels often nested. Their caws nearly drowned out the desperate squeaks coming from the foliage that they attacked.
"Get… get...aaagh!" Scorpius shouted, charging the murder of crows without thinking, flailing his arms to get them to back away.
The crackle of accidental magic sparking from him aided in deterring the crows from reapproaching him as he made for the trees base to investigate the state of the distressed critter they were attacking. Among the long blades of grass was a tiny little baby squirrel. It must have fallen from its nest above. The creature seemed alert, if the swishing of its poofy tail and its wide, scared beady eyes were anything to go by. Scorpius could see many wounds that were inflicted on its body from the attack.
He carefully scooped up the baby squirrel with his hands, pulling them to his chest and uncaring of the blood, Scorpius hurried back to the Manor.
"Mama! Mama!"
His mother was sitting on the patio shaded by a cerulean-blue parasol, a spread of tea and tea cakes before her. She had her knitting with her, a new book on advanced patterns his father recently gifted her was open on the table beside the tea. At hearing Scropius shouts, she set her knitting aside and stood up immediately when he approached her, panting and wide-eyed, cradling something to his avocado-colored tunic.
"What happened?" his mother asked, kneeling in front of him. "Are you hurt?"
Scorpius held the critter out to his mother, hands bloodied and trembling. The squirrel was breathing quickly, but was otherwise still.
"I f-found this baby being attacked by crows by the old oak. It's… It's hurt bad. Can you help it, please, Mama?" he panted out, voice watery with unshed tears threatening to fall.
His mother grabbed the cloth napkin from the tea tray and carefully collected the baby squirrel from Scorpius. She gently wrapped it to hide the deep puncture wounds it sustained, seeing Scorpius' tears form at the sight of how much damage was inflicted upon its small little body.
She only briefly inspected the critters' injuries before properly wrapping it up in the cloth.
"I'm afraid there isn't anything that can be done for this little one, my love," she said sadly.
"But… you have magic!" Scorpius wailed, tears now free falling. "Use your magic! H-help it, please, Mama!"
His mother frowned. Taking her free hand, she lightly rested it over the top of the squirrel. She muttered under her breath, and Scorpius saw that the critter's breathing seemed to slow and its eyes started to droop.
"Magic will never be a fix-all solution, sweetheart," his mother said softly. "What I can do for this little one is help it no longer suffer from pain, letting it be able to drift off to sleep and slip away in peace."
Scorpius cried freely, watching as the baby squirrel took its final breath in his mother's hand. She gently wrapped an arm around him for comfort.
"You did the right thing in rescuing this little one. To help it, Scorpius. You stopped its suffering and torture, and you were able to allow it pass away peacefully," his mother explained.
She wrapped the squirrel up and laid it on the chair, placing a protective spell on it so it could not be disturbed. "We will give it a proper burial."
Scorpius only nodded, face wet with tears and eyes red with sadness. "O-Okay…"
"But first, let's get you cleaned up and we will find a good spot in the gardens."
They walked a few paces before Scorpius spoke again. "Mama?"
"Yes, starlight?"
"Is tha-that why you are sick? Because magic can't fix you?"
She smiled sadly at him. "Yes."
"So… y-you will die too?"
His mother stopped and knelt before Scorpius and looked him in the eye, gripping his forearms gently.
"Death is a part of life, sweetheart. We all will meet it in our own time and in our own ways, even me," she said. "It is a painful but truthful oath that comes with life. But you need not worry about me, okay? I will be here with you and your father for quite some time yet, I promise."