The world outside was a grey drizzle, but inside the little cabin there was a warmth and happiness that Koda had known very little of. Richmond laid by the fire, gently dozing. Cei sketched, streched out on the sofa. Koda leaned against the doorframe, in limbo between kitchen and den, and smiled to herself.
A peace was there... it had settled into the crevices behind the furniture, into the holes of the knit throw, into the pores of her skin, and it was a new feeling. Yes, the old house had seen this sort of calm before, but the lonliness dragged it down. Now the peace was light and airy, supported by the warm glow of man and dog...
She drifted into the kitchen. Something had compelled her to make gingerbread, and as the sweet treat began to cook, slowly the spice saturated the air. Koda had always loved gingerbread, but she neglected to cook it often... too much of her mother lingered in the memories of fixing it, down to the recipie written on yellowed paper in her mother's hand. She sighed, and padded slowly off to her room.
Now was a good time to practice.
The cordial little fiddle was in its dignified black case, leaning against the wall. She sat down on her bed and lifted the case up to her lap, revering in the fiddle's beautiful craftsmanship as she lifted it out. Even after all these years she was still in awe of the instrument she played. The fiddle was one of the few things she considered truly hers in the house, not a Snape tradition, like the old cottage or the gingerbread...
Koda brushed the strings experamentally with the bow, tuning her fiddle gently. She remembered that the violin was one of the few choices her father approved of... and how he thought her switch to the lighthearted jigs and reels of the fiddle was such a betrayal. The fiddle was independance and hope and freedom all in a shiny black leather case.
As she softly played a slow, happy tune, full of Celtic frills, a wave of happiness made her smile. The beautiful peace completed that afternoon, so fragile and pretty, wonderful and easily broken.
With the intuition granted to every woman bearing the Snape name, Koda knew it would not last.
Her feeling of foreboding grew with the descent of night, and peaked when, like a nervous mother hen, she fretted over Richmond's nightly absence. Even after a few weeks of ownership they knew the dog was set in his ways, but something felt wrong to her, and made her walk outside.
The moon was shining on the wet grass and the rain had reduced to a fine, misty fall. She looked around. "Richmond?" Her worried call echoed slightly into the woods behind the house. "Richmond?" she called again. No answer placated her worries, no bark or howl came forth to ease her worry.
The dog's pawprints in the mud, filled with water, shined in the moon's glow. There wasn't any choice to her. Koda followed, on intuition, or gullability, whatever you may call it, it drove her forwards. Like a solid Roman-built road, the pawprints led her on. Her heart was already in her throat when she stepped farther into the forest. A small sound, like the scratching of a quill, wound its way to her... she reached down, grabbed a branch, and swept it back -
Then it happened.
He looked up - a man - black hair - black - Black - she knew him, she knew him, she had seen his face on the wanted ads, he was a murderer, a killer, a killer - she let him into her house - she showed him hospitality - she didn't know - she did know - no!
He reached up, trying to catch her arm as she moved back, to get away, to get away from him. "Koda - please - I - I can explain, if - "
She exploded, yelling at him. "Get away from me, you murderer!" The night's silence so disturbed, birds took flight, she wanted to take flight - she wrenched her hand from his grip, bristling like a cat. He approached her, apologetic - stuttering in surprise - she didn't listen, she didn't want to. He was a murderer. A liar. A cheat. Father told her so, Father knew...
She tore away, through the forest - he followed. Koda tripped out into the open yard over some nettles, her leg stinging, the world swirling. No. No. It couldn't be possible, couldn't be right. She sobbed, she turned, tears hot, voice breaking. "All - all I wanted was to be normal - to be happy - couldn't you let us be happy? Why? Why couldn't you?"
"Koda, please, calm down. I can explain this, I promise. It's not my fault -"
"Not your fault? Not yours? Then whos fault is it? Is it me? Are you getting back at my father through me? Are you? Or do you just like ruining people's lives?" she accused angrily, her voice raising as she looked at him, vision blurred by tears.
Desperate, he cringed, trying to placate and soothe her. "Koda, please - I wouldn't do that, you know I -"
He stopped talking. A figure had appeared at the doorway, still and quiet to the point of being soundless. It was Cei. His eyes spoke volumes, brimming with tears, looking dangerously wounded. He looked at them both. Then, like a deer spooked by hunters, he ran - into the house - away from them - away from the conflict.
Koda screamed and whirled. "Do you see now? Do you see what you've done?" She turned with a sob, fleeing into the house.
"Koda, wait!" Sirius called, but it was too late. He looked at the ground, downcast, shaking his head.
At least there was time to finish his letter to Harry now.
Koda stumbled out the front door, sobbing quietly as she looked around for where Cei had gone. The train tracks to Hogwarts streched in the same clearing the house was built in, trailing off past her and deeper into the forest. A few blades of grass marked the way that Koda needed to take.
She miserably shuffled along, wiping her eyes on her jacket sleeve. Her leg throbbed where the nettles scrached it, and more importantly, she ached at such a sudden and swift betrayal. There had to be a way to salvage the situation, to make it all right... she didn't worry about herself anymore as she walked through the forest. At the very thought of Cei she became anxious.
The sounds of a small creek added a calming, welcome ambience. Sniffling, she called out. "Cei?" A few more meters of underbrush and she saw him, hugging his knees, pitifully curled up on the small stream's bank. Worried frown crossing her face, she slumped down beside him. He was shivering, perhaps from cold, perhaps from something else - he looked up at her as she sat, eyes red and face tearstained. Carefully, she looped an arm over his shoulders. "Cei?" she queried in a whisper. "Are you all right?"
He just sort of shivered, curling up closer to her. Suddenly, something caught his eye, and with an equally worried look, he looked up at her and gestured to her leg.
Koda looked down with a blink, noticing that her calf where the nettles had hit was bleeding, a bleeding gash streching down from her knee. "Oh," she said limply, blinking more rapidly. "No... I - I think I'm fine for now, Cei."
He still nailed her with a worried stare. The rain picked up again, suddenly rushing from mist to drizzle to a good downpour. "Come on," she said worriedly, helping Cei up, "We'd better get inside..." He nodded sagely, but still held onto her gently, helping her to take some weight off of her leg.
Slowly they walked back to the house, hoping that life could continue smoothly after the night of betrayal.
Hayley (Rouge Magie) - This is for you. A nice, shiny, new chapter of Rain. Aren't you proud of me.
Disclaimer - The usual applies. It's J.K.'s, not mine, yada yada, don't sue me please, I haven't got all that much money, and I think I could only hire my sister as a lawyer, and I don't think she wants to be a lawyer. So there.