Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or anything you recognize from the
books. I do own the Men of Dark and all my characters. (Hawk, Gabe, Trixie,
Jillian, and anyone else I make up. Is everybody happy now? Good, because
I'm not doing this again.
Hawk looked out the window, dying to get outside. The small train compartment was much too... enclosed. She pressed her cheek to the glass, closed her eyes, and sighed. She was imagining herself as a big female red- tailed hawk, flying effortlessly on the thermals alongside her pet, Jai. Jai was a red-tailed hawk who acted as if she were Hawk's owl. She also happened to be Hawk's only friend.
"Vell, I am stuck now," Hawk whispered to herself.
She started to doze off, so she curled her legs up under her and leaned her head into the crack between the window and the seat. The claustrophobic feeling didn't quite go away, but it was less intense than before.
Hawk woke up no more than ten minutes later to someone shaking her gently. She immediately thought it must be Gabe, and woke up smiling.
"Ga-" she opened her eyes, to see a tallish blond girl looking at her over wire-rimmed glasses. "Who are you?"
"I am Megan, the new Head Girl at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I was told to come greet all the new transfer students, so here I am. I was also told that your name is Harriet Anna Wiley Karolisse Dimitrov, is that correct?" the girl asked.
"No. My name is Hawk," Hawk snapped, right back in her bad mood.
"Er-right. Well, you can come to me if you have any problems then, Harr-I mean, Hawk," Megan stumbled out of the compartment as if in a huge rush to escape the grumpy, rude Durmstrang transfer student.
" 'I vas told your name is Harriet Anna Viley Karolisse Dimitrov'," Hawk copied in a mocking tone, "I'm Head Suck-up at Hogvarts-vot kind of name is that, anyway? Hogvarts? That's disgusting. Gabe vould never settle for a school named Hogvarts..." Hawk lapsed into silence, brooding over what she'd just said. 'Gabe would never settle...' Gabe would never settle for anything again. Unless you count settling for being six-feet-under while Hawk was still up here, locked in a stupid, red train on her way to some stupid school named after a blemish on a pig's skin... but he didn't have much choice in that, did he?
Hawk turned so her back was against the window, put her feet up on the seat, and hugged her knees to her chest.
Gabe... was there ever a better friend? He hated his father, like Hawk hated hers. He loved Hawk like she was his own little sister. They were best friends, yet those words could never describe their relationship. Their fathers had arranged for them to be married, yet they didn't let that change anything. They had no intentions of getting married, of course, but they also knew they would not be living long enough anyway. Every night, they would hug, kiss (like you might kiss your dad, not all romantically), and say they loved each other. It helped them not dread the days they turned 15, which is when the dark secret they shared would be put to the test.
Gabe turned 15 August 28. His father said he had a surprise for Gabe, and took him off through the floo network. Gabe never came back. The funeral was held on the 31st, as is custom, three days after his death. It was a small thing intentionally, but most of the town showed up to comfort his other half, Hawk, and his grieving mother. Mr. Poliakoff, Gabe's father, never even came.
Hawk snapped out of the memory, realizing she was sobbing and clutching her necklace like it was her last link to life, which it very well could turn out to be. The pure silver red-tail, perfect in every detail, had been Gabe's. She flipped it over and looked at the engraving on the back. It was a simple "H" inside a heart.
The coroner had not untied the black leather string that had once held it around Gabe's neck, so it was still the same knot Hawk had tied around Gabe's throat when she was 13 years old that was holding the red-tail around Hawk's neck now. Gabe had given her a pure silver panther of the same top quality. He had tied it on her right wrist that same day with the same black leather string. Carved on the back was a "G" inside a heart, just like the "H" on the red-tail. They did it that way, with a spell on the strings, for a reason. As long as those knots stayed tied, Gabe's strength could protect Hawk. They had always known he would die before her. Eight months before her, to be exact. They had known when they would die, to the day, since they were 13 and 14 years old, little more than a year ago. It was just a fact they had to live with. That was why they made the red-tail and the panther, because Hawk was not strong enough, alone, to protect herself. If Gabe couldn't be there himself, he wanted to at least know she was safer than if she were alone completely.
Hawk laid her head on her knees and sobbed openly for a very long time. She missed Gabe. She missed her home, and she wished she wouldn't have to meet the same fate Gabe did, but it was inevitable. Hawk only had until April 13 to live.
(Yes, I know, I left a cliffhanger after I yelled at so many of you for doing the same thing, but I promise I'll update as soon as I can.)
Hawk looked out the window, dying to get outside. The small train compartment was much too... enclosed. She pressed her cheek to the glass, closed her eyes, and sighed. She was imagining herself as a big female red- tailed hawk, flying effortlessly on the thermals alongside her pet, Jai. Jai was a red-tailed hawk who acted as if she were Hawk's owl. She also happened to be Hawk's only friend.
"Vell, I am stuck now," Hawk whispered to herself.
She started to doze off, so she curled her legs up under her and leaned her head into the crack between the window and the seat. The claustrophobic feeling didn't quite go away, but it was less intense than before.
Hawk woke up no more than ten minutes later to someone shaking her gently. She immediately thought it must be Gabe, and woke up smiling.
"Ga-" she opened her eyes, to see a tallish blond girl looking at her over wire-rimmed glasses. "Who are you?"
"I am Megan, the new Head Girl at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I was told to come greet all the new transfer students, so here I am. I was also told that your name is Harriet Anna Wiley Karolisse Dimitrov, is that correct?" the girl asked.
"No. My name is Hawk," Hawk snapped, right back in her bad mood.
"Er-right. Well, you can come to me if you have any problems then, Harr-I mean, Hawk," Megan stumbled out of the compartment as if in a huge rush to escape the grumpy, rude Durmstrang transfer student.
" 'I vas told your name is Harriet Anna Viley Karolisse Dimitrov'," Hawk copied in a mocking tone, "I'm Head Suck-up at Hogvarts-vot kind of name is that, anyway? Hogvarts? That's disgusting. Gabe vould never settle for a school named Hogvarts..." Hawk lapsed into silence, brooding over what she'd just said. 'Gabe would never settle...' Gabe would never settle for anything again. Unless you count settling for being six-feet-under while Hawk was still up here, locked in a stupid, red train on her way to some stupid school named after a blemish on a pig's skin... but he didn't have much choice in that, did he?
Hawk turned so her back was against the window, put her feet up on the seat, and hugged her knees to her chest.
Gabe... was there ever a better friend? He hated his father, like Hawk hated hers. He loved Hawk like she was his own little sister. They were best friends, yet those words could never describe their relationship. Their fathers had arranged for them to be married, yet they didn't let that change anything. They had no intentions of getting married, of course, but they also knew they would not be living long enough anyway. Every night, they would hug, kiss (like you might kiss your dad, not all romantically), and say they loved each other. It helped them not dread the days they turned 15, which is when the dark secret they shared would be put to the test.
Gabe turned 15 August 28. His father said he had a surprise for Gabe, and took him off through the floo network. Gabe never came back. The funeral was held on the 31st, as is custom, three days after his death. It was a small thing intentionally, but most of the town showed up to comfort his other half, Hawk, and his grieving mother. Mr. Poliakoff, Gabe's father, never even came.
Hawk snapped out of the memory, realizing she was sobbing and clutching her necklace like it was her last link to life, which it very well could turn out to be. The pure silver red-tail, perfect in every detail, had been Gabe's. She flipped it over and looked at the engraving on the back. It was a simple "H" inside a heart.
The coroner had not untied the black leather string that had once held it around Gabe's neck, so it was still the same knot Hawk had tied around Gabe's throat when she was 13 years old that was holding the red-tail around Hawk's neck now. Gabe had given her a pure silver panther of the same top quality. He had tied it on her right wrist that same day with the same black leather string. Carved on the back was a "G" inside a heart, just like the "H" on the red-tail. They did it that way, with a spell on the strings, for a reason. As long as those knots stayed tied, Gabe's strength could protect Hawk. They had always known he would die before her. Eight months before her, to be exact. They had known when they would die, to the day, since they were 13 and 14 years old, little more than a year ago. It was just a fact they had to live with. That was why they made the red-tail and the panther, because Hawk was not strong enough, alone, to protect herself. If Gabe couldn't be there himself, he wanted to at least know she was safer than if she were alone completely.
Hawk laid her head on her knees and sobbed openly for a very long time. She missed Gabe. She missed her home, and she wished she wouldn't have to meet the same fate Gabe did, but it was inevitable. Hawk only had until April 13 to live.
(Yes, I know, I left a cliffhanger after I yelled at so many of you for doing the same thing, but I promise I'll update as soon as I can.)