Redemption.

the strangest dream

Stiorra's POV.

She didn't know what it was about, or why it happened just at that very moment, but Stiorra kept on having the strangest of dreams.

She was running across a long hallway, where a couple of doors were propped open. There were candles lit up along the walls, projecting a trembling golden light across the room that flickered at each move she made.
There were long bookshelves running against the walls, onto which the candles were for their top weren't particularly high. However, the bookshelves were high enough for Stiorra, who was as small as she was when she was just a little child, not to be able to grab the candles.
Stiorra rushed into the farthest room on her right, and stumbled on a few teddy bears as she hid beneath her bed.
The room was quite normal, if you'd ask anyone, for a child born in a family of wizards and witches. The walls were painted in a dusty pink colour, and her massive bed had its headboard propped against a wall. There were string lights hanging right above it. There was a tall dollhouse in a corner, and about a hundred children books in the other.
There were footsteps coming near the room, and Stiorra put her hand on her mouth not to giggle as she recognised her mother's shoes when she walked into the bedroom.

"Come out, come out, little bat," her mother chanted.

Stiorra had her eyes locked on her mother's shoes, but it didn't stop her from screaming as her mother paced about the room and suddenly looked down underneath the bed. She grabbed Stiorra's ankles and dragged her out into the open. The little girl cackled as her mother lifted her up from the floor and held her in her arms.

"Mommy?" she asked.

"Yes, dear?"

Her mother let her go and Stiorra sat down on her bed, picking up the nearest teddy bear she could find and toyed with its ears.

"Can I go to school with Conall?"

Her mother laughed and sat down beside her, an arm wrapped around her shoulders.

"I'm afraid not," her mother said, "you are too young."

"But tell me mommy, when can I go?"

"When you'll be eleven."

"Eleven?" Stiorra said, "that's quite far from now."

"Be patient."

Her mother smiled at her, cupping her chubby rounded face in her hands as she put a soft kiss on her forehead.

The light flickered altogether, and suddenly Stiorra couldn't see anything. It was pitch black. She felt cornered, and couldn't extend her arms.
There was a loud explosion somewhere out there, in the dark, and she could feel the fear creeping in on her. What was happening?

"Theodora, they've found us!" a man called out.

Stiorra could have sworn this voice belonged to her father. She didn't remember much about him, not the exact features of his face, or his laugh, but she could have picked his voice out in a crowd.

"The children aren't here," a severe voice said.

"Are you sure?" a man asked.

"Positive."

"Then they must have hidden them somewhere, and we'll soon find out where that is."

She was sitting in a tight place, and moved about for her legs not to move. A ray of light shone through a tall yet narrow opening, and she could finally see.