For me, words are a form of action, capable of influencing change. -Ingrid Bengis
Blue Roses.
Chapter Three: Where have all the good people gone?
After Skye told Cedric of her past, she realized the sun was rising, and people were entering the common room. Skye walked up to a mirror, scrunched her face, and lengthened and thickened her hair and turned it a dark brown. She pulled an elastic from her pocket and put her hair up in a ponytail.
The entire time she had spoken, Cedric had not said a word, but had been in complete shock. He stared at her with his mouth open as she began to shuffle around the common room, her mood dramatically improved after spilling her secrets to Cedric. She sat back down beside him.
"You realize you're the only person that knows this outside of the family, right?"
Cedric nodded.
"Can we keep it that way?"
Cedric nodded once again.
"What's up, Ced? You haven't said anything for 3 hours."
"How do you do it?" Cedric asked, looking at Skye with awe.
"How do I do...what?"
"Live, and be so happy, with everything that's happened. Your mom, your dad..."
"I have friends like you."
Skye beamed at Cedric, and he smiled back.
"That's what I wanted to hear."
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The next day, Skye and Cedric were scheduled to have flying lessons with the other Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw first years after classes. For both of them, they had disastrous beginnings; when Skye called Up! to her broom, it knocked her hand to the side and shot up about 20 feet in the air. Meanwhile, for Cedric, he continued calling Up! in frustration, but his broom remained stationary.
"Did I break it?" Cedric asked Skye.
"Well, I'm not sure," began Skye, "but I think I broke mine." Her broom had just collided with the Whomping Willow, which was beating it to a pulp.
Cedric sighed. "I really want to get this to work..." he stared at the broom, a determined look on his face, and it flinched a little. He continued staring, before muttering Up! and having the broom fly into his hand. Skye gave a little cheer at his talent.
"All you have to do," Madam Hooch called out to the group, "is throw your leg over the broom, and steer it in the general direction you wish to go. Please, if you are out of control, just shout. On your marks..."
Cedric lifted his leg over his broom.
"Get set..."
Cedric tightened his grip, and muttered, "my brother can do this so can I..."
"GO!"
Cedric felt his feet being lifted off the ground as the broom shot upwards. There was a great rushing feeling as he went higher...higher...he swerved to the left, and with grace the broom took a sharp left, and he flew in the direction of the Quidditch pitch. He then took a right, and headed towards the Forbidden Forest. He was approaching the forest when...the whistle blew, and Cedric knew he must return to the ground.
"Cedric!" Skye cried, when he touched down. "That was amazing flying! That was so cool!" she began bouncing on the balls of her feet.
Cedric held his broom in front of her. "Here, you go for a spin." Skye let go of the broom so it hovered beside her, and swung her leg over.
Cedric stood beside her, and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "Just give it a little push-off..." he whispered in her ear.
Skye kicked off the ground, feeling the wind wash through her hair momentarily, before the broom bucked her off, sending her flying face first into the ground. Cedric ran over to her, and she sat up laughing.
"While, I guess I'm not a natural like you are, Ced." Cedric beamed at Skye for the compliment, and held his hand out for her.
"Just try again, I'm sure you'll get it."
Skye tried again, but this time her broom veered a sharp left and she went flying off to the right. She landed on her wrist painfully, and was sent to the hospital wing, escorted by Cedric.
"That went well," she said through gritted teeth, then slightly sarcastically, "I'm so glad I came out unscathed."
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"Name one component of Polyjuice Potion."
Professor Snape had spoken to Skye for the first time in days.
"A part of the person you are trying to duplicate," she answered properly, "you could use hair, skin, blood-"
"Don't sass me!" Snape sniped back at her, "detention, my office, 5 o' clock today."
Skye rolled her eyes and Cedric shook his head, looking down at the ground.
Skye sighed and bent down at the spare piece of parchment in front of her, and began taking the notes Professor Snape had put on the board, anger in her written words.
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Cedric and Skye were sitting together on the edge of the lake, classes having ended. Endless homework piled beside them, and they both scribbled madly.
Cedric looked out onto the lake, watching it sparkle in the sunlight. He saw a slight ripple in the water, and realized it was probably the octopus. Realizing his hands were painfully cramping up, he passed Skye a water bottle. "Take a break. I wanted to ask you if you've thought about...Christmas at my house." Cedric blushed a slight pink at the mention of it.
"Yeah...that's what I wanted to know, too," a confident voice said from the trees behind them, "our Christmases are dead boring, and it would be nice to have a little change."
Brayden sat down, and Skye looked from him to Cedric. "Staying at Hogwarts, or going to your house?" she thought aloud. "I think I'll choose your house."
"Thanks, Skye," Cedric said, giving her a quick hug, "now my dad can realize that I'm not a complete loner kid!"
The three laughed lightly, and Skye gave a glance at her watch. "4:30...I ought to get going for Professor Snape's detention. I'll see you guys at supper!"
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Skye collected her things, stood up, and headed off towards the castle. She glanced back momentarily to see Brayden grabbing the bottom of his shirt and pulling it off his muscular shoulders, while Cedric awkwardly pulled his off. She saw them both jump into the lake, sighed, and continued walking up to the castle.
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Brayden watched Skye walk off gracefully, her shoulder-length red hair bobbing. He turned to Cedric and asked if he wanted to take a swim, and Cedric agreed. He jumped into the cool water and felt a chill run up his spine. Cedric swam up beside him, and they watched Skye disappear into the trees.
"How much?" Brayden asked Cedric.
"A lot." Cedric replyed.
"Why don't you do anything about it, little bro?"
"I just...can't. I don't have a chance..."
"You never know unless you try."
Cedric sighed. "I'll think about it."
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Skye knocked on the door to Professor Snape's office, and opened the door. She didn't see Professor Snape, so she decided to sit down and continue on her homework. She took out her Astronomy homework, and scribbled down planets on a star chart for about 20 minutes. She then heard a soft click and a voice in the shadows.
"Tell me now. Why can't we be friends?"
Skye stood up and turned around, realizing she was facing Professor Snape.
"You fool. Friendship? I can barely take you as a teacher."
"Don't get started on that crap." his voice was raising.
"That crap? That crap! How about the crap you put me through for 8 years, how about that? Or the crap you put her through for 20, how about that?"
"She needed that crap to pull her out of her so-called perfect world."
"Have you ever thought that maybe she enjoyed that perfect world?" Skye, at this point, was almost screaming.
"Perfect worlds always crash. I just cushioned her fall."
"CUSHIONED?" Skye ran to the door of Snape's office, and threw it opened. "If you consider ENDING IT cushioning it, then you did a very good job of cushioning it!"
"Skye, I..."
Skye slammed the door in Snape's face, and began walking briskly down the hall by his dungeons. She heard him open and close the door behind him, and he ran up behind her.
"I had to do it, otherwise..."
"If you really loved her, you would have valued her life above that of your own."
"I did love her! That's why I did it so that..."
"I DON'T CARE ABOUT YOUR PETTY EXCUSES!"
Skye was continually trying to run away from Snape, but he wanted to settle this.
"Skye, listen to me..."
Skye pushed the doors open to the Great Hall, which was full of students, due to the fact it was around suppertime. Snape ran in behind her, and Skye saw Cedric stand up.
"Hey! Everybody! I have something to tell you all!"
The room went as silent as when Skye entered the room on her first day.
"This man," she pointed to Snape, "as you all know, ruined many lives in his reign as a Death Eater. But I bet none of you know the one death that he caused.
"It all began many years ago, when greaseball here was a student, just like you or I." Skye was walking towards the teachers table, where all the teachers, spare Dumbledore, were looking completely shocked. Dumbledore had an amused look on his face. "He met a wonderful girl, the only girl that talked to him in the entire school. She was kind to him...he ruined her. When he joined the Death Eaters, he forced her to join, henceforth dragging her down with him!"
Skye took a pause, and a few people pointed at her and muttered. When she continued talking, the room went silent.
"She was loyal to him for 10 long years, even when she was pregnant. She was loyal to the Dark Lord, but only because her one true love was. She had a child, and the Dark Lord wanted her child's head on a plaque. So the Dark Lord gave orders for the girl to kill her own child.
"Out of the goodness of her heart, she could not do it. She could not kill the thing that she and her love had created. So she told her love that she wanted out.
"'Once you are in, you cannot go out!' he told her. 'Then I want out' she replied. So he did the one thing to her that would get her out; he killed her."
There was a collective gasp between the students, though most seemed confused at why Skye was telling them this.
"Snape took the child, who was then 8, and gave her to his father. He, luckily, had enough heart to not kill her, but rather send her to a harsh home, where she was beaten senseless countless times. Do you think it's right, what he did? For I do not. That woman that he killed...her name was Kami Cunningham. She was my doting mother.
"So how do you like the truth, dad?" she spat at Snape.
And with that, Skye ran out the doors of the Great Hall to the outside, where the darkness swallowed her whole.
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A/N: Yay! A long chapter! I'm sorry about the previous crappy chapters...I hope this one makes everything more interesting. The drama stirs...read and review! Constructive criticism is appreciated!