Chapter 2: Interlude to their Third Year
Sairina groaned groggily and her vision began to clear. Her eyes fluttered open and she saw a starry night sky. Rubbing the back of her sore, throbbing head, she realized that she had fallen on the floor. Someone was, however, propping her up, their arms quite protectively wrapped around her waist.
"Thank you, Mr. Lupin, for catching her," the familiar voice of Professor Dumbledore chuckled, "I must say those are some impressive reflexes." Suddenly the name clicked. Lupin. Remus.
"Trastahíl!" she said jumping up suddenly. She shook off the feeling that everyone was staring at her (which they were) and began to talk to Professor Dumbledore.
"I need to speak with my father and mother now, professor," she said in the flowing dialect of Sindarin, "Something is happening that needs to be stopped."
"What is it?" he asked in textbook perfect Sindarin (he learned quickly from the many visits he made to the Telcontar palace) genuinely concerned.
"One of the seven seeing stones, the one from Sauron's tower," she struggled for the words, "Orcs found it, and I think the dark lord is still thriving within it." Sairina watched as his face darkened in concentration. Worry etched deep lines in his face.
"I will tell your parents," he said finally, "But I want you to write down everything you saw and heard. Now do you need to visit the hospital wing, or are you feeling much better?"
"I will be fine," she answered rubbing her temples, "I – I just need to sleep." Dumbledore nodded and motioned to a Ravenclaw prefect and instructed her to escort the weary girl to the Ravenclaw dormitories. Upon reaching her dorm, she quickly scrawled in Tengwar the sights she had seen in her vision and then proceeded to collapse upon her bed in exhaustion.
Before Sairina could realize it, it was time for what the other students called the Christmas Holiday. In the past months, several things happened to the young maturing princess.
First, she and Lily became the best of friends. And it was a true friendship that they built, not some niceties on Lily's part because Sairina was a princess (which still nobody knew). The two could often be found in the library studying and pouring over text books.
Second, both the girls realized that they were prodigies when it came to the class work in Charms. Each of the girls also found their weaker subjects. Lily struggled with Transfiguration, while Sairina had trouble with Defense Against the Dark Arts class.
Finally the duo learned to trust each other to no ends, and they were united against the same enemy.
This common enemy was The Marauders, the quartet of James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter. They were the new terrors of the school, smart and cunning and brave enough to stand up to anyone that challenged them. Well, almost anyone. The thing of it was the fearless Marauders didn't dare mess with either Lily or Sairina.
At least not until the day when the train would be leaving for King's Cross for the holidays.
"Be sure to write me everyday, indil," Sairina requested, "I'm going to be stuck here with the four gits, and I need something to occupy my time." Both she and Lily laughed.
"I've been meaning to ask you," Lily began curiously, "the language you speak sometimes, what is it? It sound more romantic than French and more beautiful than any type of music I have ever heard before." Sairina hesitated. She didn't even realize that she had been weaving the Elvish tongue in with her average speech.
"It is one of the many languages of my country," she replied vaguely, "It's called Sindarin." Lily sighed.
"Even the name of the language is beautiful," she swooned and they continued to meander towards the great hall, "So what does indil mean?"
"It's your name," Sairina replied easily, "indil means lily in the Sindarin tongue."
"What about trastahíl?" Sairina froze.
"It is the name of the group my brother is in," she tried to be as vague as she could, "he and his friends are very similar to the Marauders. Strangely similar . . ." her voice trailed off.
"Ah," Lily said nodding as they approached the doors to the Great Hall, "so no matter where you go you have an annoy group of pranksters to make you life a living . . ."
S
P
L
A
S
H!
The girls didn't know what had hit them at first. Then their bodies registered the bone-numbing cold of the water. They were soaked through and through.
To make matters worse, the Marauders were reveling in their victory in pranking the two smartest girls in first year along with everyone else in the great hall.
"Why those," Lily growled angrily and pulled out her wand. Sairina stayed her by holding out a hand.
"No," she murmured, "I know exactly how to deal with this." She stared the four boys down.
"So, you think this is funny, do you?" she said in and icy venomous voice that oozed with suppressed anger.
"It was bloody brilliant!" exclaimed Sirius who was on the floor laughing so hard tears were forming in his eyes. Apparently he, nor any of the others, could sense the dangerous power that building up inside of her.
"Nin o Chithaeglir, lasto beth daer, Rimmo nin Bruinen dan in Ulair! Nin o Chithaeglir, lasto beth daer, Rimmo nin Bruinen dan in Ulair!" Sairina felt the ancient words pour out of her as they had for her mother in a voice that was old and distant.
She could feel herself be drawn to the water and the water drawn to her, and every last bit of water that had been dumped on them (even the water in their robes) steadily began to form and orb in the air. With a quick movement of her hands the orb transformed into a fierce looking eagle who was calmly flapping its watery wings staring at the four trouble maker who, by this time, sobered up from their victory. A vindictive smirk formed on the princess's pure face.
"Bedithach," she commanded and the eagle flew towards its prey, sufficiently dousing the four boys just as much, if not more so than the girls had been soaked.
"How did you do that?" Lily asked shocked and amazed while many of the other people in the hall stared at Sairina in awe. She just shrugged. "I thought you said you were from a non-wizarding family." Again, Sairina could only shrug.
"There is a very complex situation," she said so only Lily could hear her, "One I would rather not explain right now while the whole student body is staring at me." But Lily wasn't the only one to hear her.
Remus Lupin, though several feet away and soaked to the bone heard her crystal clear because of his . . . abnormal . . . enhancements. I wonder what she has to hide. He thought curiously.
The rest of their first year passed without too much excitement. Classes continued, friendships grew stronger, exams were given, and the year ended. Lily promised to write to Sai (as the princess had come to be called) and vice versa.
The summer before their second year flew by in the blink of an eye. Things were especially hectic for Sairina. After receiving word of her vision, her father and his steward set out with a small band of men for Mordor. There they did indeed find orcs digging through the rubble. The men managed to slaughter them, and returned the seeing stone to the white tower. Unlike her vision, however, there were no signs of the Dark Lord's presence within it. Nonetheless, the stone remained locked in a tower, guarded by two of the army's finest.
Much like the last half of their first year, the second year of Lily and Sairina flew by in the blink of an eye. Sairina still struggled with Defense Against the Dark Arts, while Lily was doing a bit better in Trnasfiguration. Sairina also earned a spot as a chaser on the Ravenclaw quidditch team, which took up even more of her time, making the days go by all the more faster.
The Marauders were still at large, wreaking havoc on anyone who crossed their path. Mainly the poor kid Severus Snape, who had rubbed them the wrong way since day one. They also took delight in tormenting the girls, but were wary of the extent of their tricks after seeing what Sairina could do.
Second year drew to a close, and the summer before third year began . . . it's also this time that the true troubles began for the young princess . . .