Scene: A circle of Druidic stones
First Fairy: Afar from our lawn and our levee,
O sister of sorrowful gaze!
Where the roses in scarlet are heavy
And dream of the end of their days,
You move in another dominion
And hang o'er the historied stone:
Unpruned in your beautiful pinion
Who wander and whisper alone.
All: Come away while the moon's in the woodland,
We'll dance and then feast in a dairy.
Though youngest of all in our good band,
You are wasting away, little fairy.
Second Fairy: Ah! cruel ones, leave me alone now
While I murmur a little and ponder
The history here in the stone now;
Then away and away I will wander,
And measure the minds of the flowers,
And gaze on the meadow-mice wary,
And number their days and their hours-
All: You're wasting away, little fairy.
Second Fairy: O shining ones, lightly with song pass,
Ah! leave me, I pray you and beg.
My mother drew forth from the long grass
A piece of a nightingle's egg,
And cradled me here where are sung,
Of birds even, longings for aery
Wild wisdoms of spirit and tongue.
All: You're wasting away, little fairy.
First Fairy [turning away]: Though the tenderest roses were round you,
The soul of this pitiless place
With pitiless magic has bound you-
Ah! woe for the loss of your face,
And the loss of your laugh with its lightness-
Ah! woe for your wings and your head-
Ah! woe for your eyes and their brightness-
Ah! woe for your slippers of red.
We'll dance and then feast in a dairy.
Though youngest of all in our good band,
She's wasting away, little fairy.
William Butler Yeats, "The Fairy Pendant"
Chapter four: Fate
The one greatest thing that the fae hated about Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was that she was not allowed onto the grounds. She stood as close to the edge of the Forbidden Forest as the wards would let her and stared and the castle that her Harry now lived in.
She supposed that it was a good thing that no fae or magical creatures could step unto the grounds. Well there was that troll, but he was let in. She knew that many of her brethren would delight in a similar chance to torment wizard children.
Still…
She picked at her black claw like nails and sighed. No, she wouldn't want her around children either.
Didn't stop other unsavory characters from being allowed in though, besides the troll, she thought jumping unto a tree branch and sitting down in a huff. The green in her eyes allowed her to see out of the green in Harry's.
At first she enjoyed seeing what he did and it had made her happy to see him making friends and eating in that large room. Until she suddenly felt the evil. Heat rose up from within her and Harry winced in pain as his scar responded. That dark man was glaring at him.
She could only see what the boy could and she had wanted to tear her hair out to make him look around. It might have been caused by the man in black, it might have been another. She could not influence the child from out in the forest.
The fae crossed her arms and let her leg dangle.
She and the boy had eventually learned that the dark man was the potions master and she now felt even more inclined to believe that he was the cause. Sure, she wasn't allowed in to be around children but that kind of man was allowed to teach rooms of students.
She sneered.
He couldn't fool her, she knew he was tainted. Even without being in the room, she could feel the bitterness and darkness rolling off him.
The professor knew it too.
She recognized the way he avoided contact, physical and emotional and she was glad of it. If anyone like herself or the potions master dared to so much as lay a finger on her charge, she would see to it that they no longer had fingers.
Drumming her own fingers on her arm she wondered what kind of creature she would become if she ate someone else's fingers.
The sun began to set and she watched the half-giant come out of his hut and prepare for the children's detention. Her shoulders relaxed and she allowed a smile to flit across her face when she finally saw the boy.
She jumped unto Hagrid's shoulder and rode there with her chin in her hands and listened to her boy chat with his friends. The unicorn that had been killed last Wednesday had thrown all the creatures in the forest into turmoil, but the fae had kept to herself. She was hardly fit for their company and she wanted to avoid the pure creatures having to tell her directly not to talk to them.
Harry was the only exception she would make, but that was as long as he never knew.
Something evil moved in the trees and her head shot up straight.
"Hargrid! Hide the children!" she shouted into his ear.
"GET BEHIND THAT TREE!" yelled the man, interrupting whatever he had been saying to the little girl next to Harry.
Hermoine, the fae absently vaguely remembered the girl's name as she scanned the forest; every sense tingling and alert. Hagrid had his crossbow out…Nothing. But she would not sit back down as Hagrid walked on with the children. She only relaxed slightly as the centaur, Ronan, came out and began to talk with Hagrid.
The centaur could see her, of course, as she stood on the half-giant's shoulder. Anyone completely free of human blood would always be able to see her. He had the decency to act like he couldn't though.
She kept her face neutral as he spoke.
"Always the innocent are the first victims." He said "So it has been for ages past, so it is now."
She tensed.
"Yeah," said Hagrid "But have yeh seen anythin', Ronan? Anythin' unusual?"
"Mars is bright tonight. Unusually bright?" he said.
The fae lowered her head and took a deep breath. That was the second time he said it. Hagrid was growing annoyed but the centaur said it a third time. A second centaur came out.
"Mars is bright tonight." He said as well and she clenched her fists and snarled. They did not react, they, after-all, knew that her ire was not directed at them.
Mars was the bringer of war and she got the message.
Hagrid kept walking with the children but she jumped down and remained; staring at the centaurs with a determined glare.
"Tell me the boy's fate." She demanded. They looked at her dark features and she could see the pity in their eyes. She pinched her lips and looked away, knowing that she was not what she once was and hating them for knowing it as well.
"Tell me." She growled.
"You are not tied to the boy as you once thought." Said Ronan softly. "'Come away while the moon's in the woodland, / We'll dance and the feast in a dairy / Though youngest of all in our good band, / You are wasting away, little fairy.'"
"Do not sing me songs!" she spat, feeling her whole body beginning to tremble. She took a deep breath.
"I promised to protect him." She said firmly "What fae have you ever known to go back to go back on their word?"
They averted their gaze.
Her eyes flashed and she saw through Harry's eyes as a hooded creature, mouth dripping with unicorn's blood, crept towards him.
"Harry!" she screeched and took off running. Those damn centaurs, they easily overtook her and sped before her. She cursed them for their shallow and meaningless overtures of sympathy and help.
She stopped next to them as they argued with a third of their kind. This one had Harry on his back and left after angry words to take the boy out of the Forest. The fae stood there breathing heavily for a moment, eyes closed and too relieved and too close to tears to do anything else.
When she opened her eyes she couldn't help but see the slain unicorn. Slowly, she walked up to the beautiful creature and fell to her knees before it horrible death scene.
She knew this one.
A tortured sob was ripped from her throat and she felt hot tears on her cheeks.
Since a foal she knew him. She had watched and laughed in joy as he took his first stumbling steps. Slept curled next to him and his mother after nights filled with dancing and moonlight.
She rocked back and forth as her fingers dug into the ground and her sobs filled the night air. She did not even care that the centaurs still watched her.
"You asked what the boy's fate was." Said one of them "Know that if you stay with him, you will experience this grief once more, in this very forest."
She covered her face her face with her dirt covered hands and curled into a ball.
'Ah! cruel ones, leave me alone now.'
"SOD OFF!" she yelled into the dirt.
'While I murmur a little and ponder'
Her breath came in broken gasps.
"I won't, I won't l-let that happen." She whispered.
'The history in the stone now,
Then away and away I will wander,'
She put her hands on the ground and used them to steady herself as she put her feet beneath her. Standing, she lurched before regaining her balance. They were leaving now. Hell if she cared, she needed to find Harry. He needed her.
'And measure the minds of the flowers,
And gaze on the meadow mice wary,'
No matter what fate lay ahead for him.
'And number their days and their hours—'
She stumbled and caught herself on a tree trunk. The fae took deep breaths and looked up at the sky through the branches. She would rage against the stars if she had to.
'You're wasting away, little fairy.'