Back to Present Day…
~*~*~
Saia blinked, rather surprisedly. 'Where am I?' she thought groggily. 'Where's Daddy?' As her eyes began to allow her to see, she took in a plain ceiling. The living room ceiling. She groaned, and a burst of flaming red hair obstructed her view.
"Are you all right?" Well, well, well… The red thing has a voice.
"Yes, I feel like I got hit by a bloody train, but I feel lovely!" She struggled to get up, only to see stars and fall down again. "Where's my daddy?"
The red man looked to his sides, and sighed. He stooped down, and spoke quietly to Saia. "I'm Ron. To my right, there's Percy. And over to my left, that's Katie. We are working out some things to help you out."
"That's nice, 'Ron'," she added with a touch of sarcasm, "but it doesn't answer my question. Where is my daddy?"
'Ron' looked exasperatedly to his left, apparently towards Katie, and quickly moved away. A pretty woman stood over her. She had light brown hair, and bright blue-green eyes. "Hi, honey," she said with an airy tone, happy and graceful, but somehow sad, too… "My name is Katie Bell. Don't mind Ron, he's all business. For that matter, don't mind Percy, either. Once you know them, you can understand them better. But now, you want your father, am I correct?" Saia nodded, glad that someone was listening to her pleas. "All right, but first, I need to ask you some questions. To start us off, what is your name?"
Saia was surprised, but worked to hide it. 'Why don't they just ask my daddy?' As if reading her mind, Katie spoke up again. "We tried to ask your father, but he was, well… quite unresponsive."
An alarm went off in her head. Something's wrong with Daddy! Her mind slowly began to cloud with thoughts from earlier that night. She began to remember being mad, yelling, the green light… She needed answers, but the only one who even looked willing to give them demanded answers from her. "Katie, or whatever your name is, please let me see my dad!"
A third figure stood over Katie. He, too, had flame red hair. "Love," she called up, "just tell her! If she gets hysterical, we can make her forget everything! We're taking her to a safe place anyway, don't let her go in the dark!"
As he lowered his face to Katie's height, Saia saw his concerned brown eyes knit with worry. "Katherine, if we need to use a memory curse on her, then she may forget even the smallest clue as to who did this to her." Me… mory… CURSE?!
"Who are you people? Why do you want to curse me? Where's my daddy?!" She began to sob, calling for her father, and definitely trying their patience. At least, she hoped so.
Katie looked despairingly at the third man. "Percy, love, just look at her! Please, if anyone can overcome the effects of a memory curse gone awry, you can!"
She could see that his ego was greatly boosted by Katie's comment, so maybe a memory curse wasn't a bad thing after all. She stifled her sobs to ask a very important question, at least, in her eyes. "Why can't I see my father?"
Katie grimly smiled. "Your father has suffered a fate worse than death. As it appears, a spell has been cast on him that has affected everyone who lives around you. Someone hated him so much, they cast an Unforgivable. When an Unforgivable is performed, it takes a lot of energy, just to affect one person. When this person killed your father, he killed everyone else that used to live on your block, and still had the energy to walk away."
Saia could almost hear the hoarse voice from earlier whispering menacingly in her ears once more. She swallowed hard, and said softly, "How did they do it? I mean, if it killed everyone in the vicinity, why didn't it affect me?"
"Sweetie," Katie said as she held up a mirror, "you were." Saia puzzled a little, but took the mirror. She saw her same limp hair, the same listless eyes. But something new caught her attention. The side of her face now sported a jagged pink scar, too new to be the bike wreck from last week, but too old to have been drawn. 'Wait, it could be drawn...' she thought, and tried to rub off the make-up, pen, whatever it was. But as her fingers brushed the pink tissue, pain seared across her face.
Katie took hold of her hands, to stop her from touching her scar further. "Hun, I will take you to your father, but first you have to tell me your family members' names. Can you do that for me?"
Saia needed to see her dad. If what she said was true, that means she had killed her father! What was answering a few questions going to do? "My name is Saia May Dursley. My parents are Dudelus Vernon Dursley, and Hermione Lynn Granger-Dursley," she said cautiously. She watched the older people exchange looks, and quickly spoke up again. "But don't go looking for Hermione. The last time I saw her, I mean, Daddy saw her, was when I was one..."
Ron reappeared over her, and was talking to the others. She could catch enough to know that they were talking about her mother, scar, and a pig. This was apparently a hot topic, because she could see the enthusiasm the participants put forth.
They abruptly turn to Saia, a look of almost satisfaction on their faces. "Saia," Percy spoke directly to her for the first time, "we think we may know who killed your father." Saia panicked. 'They know...'
"Can I see my father first?" she asked hurriedly. She didn't wait for an answer, but instead rose to her feet and began frantically to search the room. "Daddy? Where are you?!" Her eyes fell upon a sheet in the corner of the room, a lump underneath.
When she ripped of the sheet, she didn't scream because of what she saw. It was, after all, just her father. The same skinny man in the pictures of his wedding, that went to work every morning. It was still his crystal blue eyes that shone out, only empty. His blonde hair was exactly how she last saw it.
She screamed because she knew the truth.
She screamed because she had killed him.
~*~*~
Saia blinked, rather surprisedly. 'Where am I?' she thought groggily. 'Where's Daddy?' As her eyes began to allow her to see, she took in a plain ceiling. The living room ceiling. She groaned, and a burst of flaming red hair obstructed her view.
"Are you all right?" Well, well, well… The red thing has a voice.
"Yes, I feel like I got hit by a bloody train, but I feel lovely!" She struggled to get up, only to see stars and fall down again. "Where's my daddy?"
The red man looked to his sides, and sighed. He stooped down, and spoke quietly to Saia. "I'm Ron. To my right, there's Percy. And over to my left, that's Katie. We are working out some things to help you out."
"That's nice, 'Ron'," she added with a touch of sarcasm, "but it doesn't answer my question. Where is my daddy?"
'Ron' looked exasperatedly to his left, apparently towards Katie, and quickly moved away. A pretty woman stood over her. She had light brown hair, and bright blue-green eyes. "Hi, honey," she said with an airy tone, happy and graceful, but somehow sad, too… "My name is Katie Bell. Don't mind Ron, he's all business. For that matter, don't mind Percy, either. Once you know them, you can understand them better. But now, you want your father, am I correct?" Saia nodded, glad that someone was listening to her pleas. "All right, but first, I need to ask you some questions. To start us off, what is your name?"
Saia was surprised, but worked to hide it. 'Why don't they just ask my daddy?' As if reading her mind, Katie spoke up again. "We tried to ask your father, but he was, well… quite unresponsive."
An alarm went off in her head. Something's wrong with Daddy! Her mind slowly began to cloud with thoughts from earlier that night. She began to remember being mad, yelling, the green light… She needed answers, but the only one who even looked willing to give them demanded answers from her. "Katie, or whatever your name is, please let me see my dad!"
A third figure stood over Katie. He, too, had flame red hair. "Love," she called up, "just tell her! If she gets hysterical, we can make her forget everything! We're taking her to a safe place anyway, don't let her go in the dark!"
As he lowered his face to Katie's height, Saia saw his concerned brown eyes knit with worry. "Katherine, if we need to use a memory curse on her, then she may forget even the smallest clue as to who did this to her." Me… mory… CURSE?!
"Who are you people? Why do you want to curse me? Where's my daddy?!" She began to sob, calling for her father, and definitely trying their patience. At least, she hoped so.
Katie looked despairingly at the third man. "Percy, love, just look at her! Please, if anyone can overcome the effects of a memory curse gone awry, you can!"
She could see that his ego was greatly boosted by Katie's comment, so maybe a memory curse wasn't a bad thing after all. She stifled her sobs to ask a very important question, at least, in her eyes. "Why can't I see my father?"
Katie grimly smiled. "Your father has suffered a fate worse than death. As it appears, a spell has been cast on him that has affected everyone who lives around you. Someone hated him so much, they cast an Unforgivable. When an Unforgivable is performed, it takes a lot of energy, just to affect one person. When this person killed your father, he killed everyone else that used to live on your block, and still had the energy to walk away."
Saia could almost hear the hoarse voice from earlier whispering menacingly in her ears once more. She swallowed hard, and said softly, "How did they do it? I mean, if it killed everyone in the vicinity, why didn't it affect me?"
"Sweetie," Katie said as she held up a mirror, "you were." Saia puzzled a little, but took the mirror. She saw her same limp hair, the same listless eyes. But something new caught her attention. The side of her face now sported a jagged pink scar, too new to be the bike wreck from last week, but too old to have been drawn. 'Wait, it could be drawn...' she thought, and tried to rub off the make-up, pen, whatever it was. But as her fingers brushed the pink tissue, pain seared across her face.
Katie took hold of her hands, to stop her from touching her scar further. "Hun, I will take you to your father, but first you have to tell me your family members' names. Can you do that for me?"
Saia needed to see her dad. If what she said was true, that means she had killed her father! What was answering a few questions going to do? "My name is Saia May Dursley. My parents are Dudelus Vernon Dursley, and Hermione Lynn Granger-Dursley," she said cautiously. She watched the older people exchange looks, and quickly spoke up again. "But don't go looking for Hermione. The last time I saw her, I mean, Daddy saw her, was when I was one..."
Ron reappeared over her, and was talking to the others. She could catch enough to know that they were talking about her mother, scar, and a pig. This was apparently a hot topic, because she could see the enthusiasm the participants put forth.
They abruptly turn to Saia, a look of almost satisfaction on their faces. "Saia," Percy spoke directly to her for the first time, "we think we may know who killed your father." Saia panicked. 'They know...'
"Can I see my father first?" she asked hurriedly. She didn't wait for an answer, but instead rose to her feet and began frantically to search the room. "Daddy? Where are you?!" Her eyes fell upon a sheet in the corner of the room, a lump underneath.
When she ripped of the sheet, she didn't scream because of what she saw. It was, after all, just her father. The same skinny man in the pictures of his wedding, that went to work every morning. It was still his crystal blue eyes that shone out, only empty. His blonde hair was exactly how she last saw it.
She screamed because she knew the truth.
She screamed because she had killed him.