"Are you sure that you'll be okay out here by yourself, dear?" Pomona Sprout looked questioningly at the young girl that was bent over a cluster of tiny lavender colored flowers. They were in the Forbidden Forest. The air was warm and the sky was streaked with violet and orange in a swirl of beautiful disparity. There was only about one more hour of sunlight left before the sun would begin to descend. Pomona couldn't help but slightly question the young woman's defensive competence. Not that the Forbidden Forest was too dangerous, but one could never be too careful. Especially these days.
"I'll be fine, Professor Sprout. Go on back to the castle. I promise I won't stay out past twilight." Angelina assured the older woman patiently. She had always felt at home in the forest. The creaking of the tall evergreens in the wind had always soothed her.
"Alright sweetheart. I'll see you at dinner then." The short, round woman breathily began to pick her way to the fringes of the forest, back to her beloved greenhouses.
Angelina had been instructed to begin picking aster tanacetifolius as these small flowers were useful in a surprising number of medicinal potions. Pomona wanted to start Angelina with the first very basic task of botany; gathering the necessary ingredients from their natural habitat.
As Angelina carefully continued to pinch the small heads off of their stems, she felt a rush of nostalgia. Fred. The long spade shaped leaves that were found along the delicate stem were a particular shade of dark emerald green, the same color as Fred's eyes. Her mind rushed to that time of long ago, where her life had consisted of a series of romantic adventures. She didn't and never would regret her relationship with Fred. He had shown her how glorious life could be. Amid the joy that she felt at seeing the green that so reminded her of his deep eyes, however, she couldn't keep her thoughts from bitterly turning to the demise of their bond.
The night air was freezing but she was warm in his arms. They had just apparated onto her balcony after a night full of lovemaking and whispered promises. He moved his hands down her back and touched his lips to hers for one last time. Then he was gone.
As quietly as she could, a still smiling Angelina Johnson opened the balcony door and entered her room. As soon as her eyes adjusted to the sudden dimness, she drew her wand swiftly as she realized that a dark figure was sitting at the foot of her bed.
"Put your wand away, miss. It's time we had a talk." Angelina was both horrified and relieved to see that it was just her mother, Alaina Johnson. Angelina slowly approached her mother, but didn't sit. She could tell by the deep scowl on Alaina's usually austere face that she was distressed.
"Was that Fred?" her words were clipped and short, as if the very mention of his name was unacceptable. There was also a certain amount of disgust in her tone.
"Yes." Angelina refused to give her mother any emotion. Alaina gave her daughter no quarter and immediately began her tirade.
"Why are you doing this to us, Angie! Your father and I have given you everything, we've loved you, given you all the clothes you could ever want, sent you to the best schools, and now you threaten to throw it all away by getting involved with a-" Alaina stopped herself abruptly.
"No, mother. What were you going to say? Say it. Say it now." Angelina's temper was a force to be reckoned with. She had known that this talk was inevitable. She had seen small signs of her parent's disapproval, but now that the time was here, now that it was actually taking place, she realized that she could have never prepared herself for the anger that she now felt.
"He's a damn blood traitor, Angelina!" There. That was it. That horrible confirmation of her parent's beliefs was the beginning of the end of her relationship with Fred Weasley AND with Alaina and Alexander Johnson.
Although Angelina attempted to maintain both connections, they ultimately both shattered each other and she was left alone. With no one except her old school friends to rely on. A quick glance of the sky quickly distracted her from her depressing recollections. It was getting dark and was time to head back to the castle for dinner and her last lesson of the day, with Snape. She had been suppressing this event all day for she had been employing her best efforts to eradicate all thoughts about Severus Snape.
She was upon them before she even noticed that they were they there. In her distracted wanderings, she had walked directly into a band of centaurs.
It was quiet. The entire band had stopped and was staring at her curiously. Many of them seemed to be staring at her right hand. Angelina did not feel fear, she knew she had to be cautious and respectful, but she did not feel any fear. She focused her attentions on the two prominent males that seemed to be leading. One was dark, his hair wild and tangled, his skin a slate blue. The other looked more refined in nature. He was a palomino and had a long, flowing blond tail. He was also quite handsome, she noticed unwittingly. Time to break the silence, Ange.
"Good evening! I'm sorry; I was preoccupied and didn't notice where I was going. I apologize for trespassing." She called out clearly and cheerfully. She didn't get a response immediately. She only got more dumbfounded stares. Then, one of the male centaurs, the palomino, responded to her in a calm, deliberate voice,
"Good evening to you as well. The forest belongs to all who respect it. Who are you?" The question was not asked in a demanding or imposing way. He seemed genuinely puzzled as to who she could possibly be.
"I am the new infirmary nurse from up at the castle. I was just gathering aster, for potions." She kept it short as she did not know the rules or ways of the centaur and did not want to confuse or complicate things.
"Ah. Okay then, we will now continue on our way." The blond centaur nodded his head to the rest of the band and they began to canter away softly. She attracted one or two more lingering looks and then they were gone.
As the band eventually dissolved back into a medley of quiet, personal conversation, Bane caught up with Firenze,
"That was interesting. I had not seen any signal in the sky about that encounter. That was a curious human. Her hand did not immediately go to her wand when she saw us."
"Two nights ago, I felt compelled to gaze at the moon." Firenze stated simply and stopped. Bane did not press him. Centaurs were a patient, strange kind, and their thoughts were not like those of humans.
"I saw that female in the midst of a great violent change. She is important. Also, she will become involved with another from the castle." As if almost on command, a sharp crack sounded from behind a nearby tree. Firenze pointed Bane's attention to it silently. Severus Snape emerged from behind the billowing sycamore, his dark robes flowing. He made eye contact with the centaurs and kept on his way. They had an understanding. After a fair amount of time had passed, Firenze continued,
"That is the other human that I saw. They have a story together. I saw this all two nights ago when I felt compelled to gaze at the moon." Bane bowed his head in acceptance and the centaurs continued on their way and troubled themselves no more with the dealings of men.