Disclaimer: I'm too young to be Rowling so there is sadly no way Harry Potter is mine…
MINI CHALLENGE
Team: NORTHERN LIGHTS
Drabble (500-1000)
Prompts:
Circus Baby: (Dialogue) "Looks like something bad happened."
Word Count: 999
Beta: Claude Amelia Song, MsRosemaryPrince (AO3)
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A SIRIUS DISCUSSION
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"Hmm…," he said slowly. "Looks like something bad happened."
In front of him, a man was sitting on the ground, glaring at him. The man's clothes were soot-stained and partly burned. His face was dirty and he looked quite exhausted. Behind him, the house was still burning.
"Is that really what you've concluded from this, vampire?" the man asked, annoyed.
"Vampire," he tasted the word. "That's rude, don't you think so, too?"
And when the man's glare just turned into something that would have set fire to a lesser being, he shrugged. "I'm just saying," he defended himself. "I bet you'd think it rude, too, if I called you 'witchling' instead of by your name." Then he grinned, showing off his fangs. "I'm Sanguini, by the way."
The man balled his fists when Sanguini called him a witchling, but answered anyway. "I'm a wizard," he said. "And I'm Sirius."
Sanguini raised an eyebrow at that. "I didn't expect you to joke in a situation like that," he countered. "It's clear that something bad happened."
This time, the man snorted in reluctant amusement. "No, well, yes, the situation is serious, but I meant that my name is Sirius."
"Oh," Sanguini contemplated that. "My condolences then." Which just wrung another snort from the tired man.
"My parents were surely not the best at naming people." Sirius lifted his hand and rubbed his eyes, spreading soot and dirt all over his face while doing so. "You haven't seen the Death Eaters that attacked this place, have you?"
Sanguini thought that over. "Death Eaters," he repeated. "Like… dementors?" He hesitated, thought about it a bit longer and added. "Inferi?"
Sirius blinked, clearly thrown by the question. "Er… no… like wizards?" he then said slowly. "You know, black robes, skull masks and spell happy?"
"Oh!" Sanguini nodded in understanding. "Those witchlings. Not sure if I'd call them Death Eaters. Earth Eaters, sure. They ate plenty of earth a few minutes ago. Vampire Snacks is something else I might have been inclined to call them if they hadn't smelled like half-dead rats." He wrinkled his nose in disgust.
Sirius snickered, suddenly more amused than tired. "So, you met them then?"
"More like they met me," the vampire assured him. "Not sure they will meet anyone else any time soon."
At that, Sirius outright laughed.
"Now, like I said, looks like something bad happened," the vampire said. "So, what exactly did happen?"
Sirius shrugged. "The Death Eaters attacked me. I was at home, and… well, the Death Eaters have been hunting me for quite some time already because I've been working against them as an Auror-in-Training and as a member of the Order of the Phoenix… I guess they found out I live here and they saw a chance, so they came at me when I least expected it…" He gestured at the burning house behind them. "I managed to drive them off, but not before they set everything on fire."
The vampire looked at the burning house. "I see that." Then he crooked his head thoughtfully. "Need any help with that?"
Sirius just sighed. "There's nothing to be done," he said. "They used Fiendfyre. I contained it as best as I could. The only thing I can do now is wait until it has run its course."
"Pestis Incendium. Nasty thing." Sanguini scratched his nose.
Sirius started when the vampire named the spell, which earned him a judging look. "I'm quite a few hundred years old. Believe me if I say I know a spell or two."
Sirius sighed. "Guess that shouldn't surprise me, but then, you're a vampire, I didn't think you knew any spells."
Sanguini rolled his eyes and then reached into a pouch at his waist and pulled out an obsidian. The obsidian was cut and etched with runes.
"I don't really care for your witchling spells," the vampire agreed and rolled the obsidian in his hand. "Far too much wagging and waving. I always feel like a fool when I stand there and waggle with my hand as if I want to conduct some silent music. I mean, if there was some actual music to hear, I might be inclined to do it, but as it is, it's just weird."
Sirius snorted at the vampire's assessment of magic. "So, you're doing what? Some other kind of magic?"
"Sure," Sanguini immediately agreed and then raised the obsidian. "I know that your witchling spells are a bit limited when it comes to Pestis Incendium but that doesn't mean that magic itself is that limited."
Sirius blinked and then sat up a bit, still exhausted but now quite distracted by his curiosity.
"Be my guest, if you want to do something to the Fiendfyre," he said and gestured at the burning house. "As it is, you can't make it worse."
"I assure you, I've never made anything worse," Sanguini promptly bristled, though he added, oddly cheerful, just a second later. "Though I bet there are some people out there, that won't agree with that assessment."
With that and a grin, he weighed the gemstone in his hand before throwing it with all his might towards the burning house. The stone broke the protective barrier Sirius had put up to keep the fire contained. The barrier fizzled out.
Sirius jumped up with a shout when the flames suddenly rose sky-high, taking the form of a dragon. He pulled out his wand to contain the spell again, just to watch a dark, nearly black, and wispy phoenix rising from the flames. It caught the dragon with its sharp talons and strangled it to death.
The fire spluttered and died, leaving a burned-out house and ashes.
Then, walls rose from the ashes, melted glass changed into windows and wood returned where nothing had been left. A moment later, the house was back – upside-down and a bit lopsided, but back.
"Well," Sirius said slowly.
"What?" Sanguini looked at him innocently. "I never said I was a decent architect!"
I hope you liked it.
Over and Out.
Ebenbild