Scarlett was running, her bare feet pounding on the forest floor as she raced down the path. Ahead of her, Victoria's pink gingham dress fluttered behind her. Victoria took the corner, Scarlett fighting to catch up to her.
"It's not fair!" Scarlett screamed as her legs began to ache. Victoria laughed, the warm summer breeze carrying the sound towards Scarlett as she rounded the corner and came to a stream. Victoria had already crossed, mud-spattered up onto her dress.
"Mom won't like that you're all dirty," Scarlett called over the rushing of the stream. Victoria rolled her eyes, sticking out her tongue as Scarlett groaned. She was determined to get across the stream, eyeing the rocks spotting out of the water. She took the first one, her arms outstretched to steady her.
She took the second one, Victoria bouncing on the balls of her feet and watching. Scarlett was just about to pounce on the third stone and cross when a heart-stopping cry took both of them by surprise. Scarlett was yanked sideways and into the stream.
A large beast that looked to be the cross of a leopard and a pufferfish had pinned her to the stream floor. It was only a foot deep, but Scarlett's head was fully submerged as her eyes burned against the murk the action had stirred up.
She cried out, raking at the large paw that had her contained. There was nothing she could do as the water began to clear. Suddenly, the paw disappeared. Scarlett clawed her way to the surface, sputtering wildly.
She looked to see the creature that had attacked her now floating above the stream in a shimmering gold blanket of magic. It seemed to be dreaming as Victoria carefully maneuvered it to a nearby glen before immediately yanking Scarlett up.
"T-That was a Nundu. Where did it come from?" Scarlett choked, her small hand wrapped in Victoria's. Victoria came to the edge of the wood and across the way, Scarlett could see her father and Gabriel herding a group of Erumpets into the pasture. Victoria stopped, Scarlett almost colliding with her as she whipped around.
"You mustn't tell them what happened." her voice was harsh in the summer breeze. Scarlett glanced down at her blue gingham dress that was drenched and muddy.
"What will I say about all of this?" Scarlett shot back as Victoria rolled her eyes.
"Make up a lie. Say I pushed you. You can't tell them Scarlett or they will send me away again. Do you want me to leave?" Victoria shot, grabbing her shoulders. At 7, Scarlett was almost as tall as Victoria who was only 11. Scarlett shook her head, though in her mind she confessed that she liked it better when Victoria was away.
"Swear it--on your life," Victoria said, her voice stern as she extended her pinky finger. Scarlett eyed it for a moment as their father caught sight of them and called out for them to come home. She linked her pinky in with Victoria's.
"I swear it."
Scarlett awoke to a rumble, the bright afternoon sun momentarily blinding her as she blinked furiously awake. She was in the woods, though this time much older and dry--for now.
Dark storm clouds loomed in the west and rain was on its way. Scarlett pushed herself up, her poetry book falling to the blanket beneath her as she took in a deep gulp of country air.
The dream was one she had been having for days, the moments playing over and over in different orders. She wondered at their meaning and why all of the sudden she was thinking of them.
A second rumble and a large gust of wind that nearly ripped her notebook's pages away let her know it was time to get back. Scarlett began shoving her blanket and books into her rucksack, forcing the zipper closed before standing up.
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Her white sundress was stained, no doubt Volpey would be more than happy to take advantage of this to talk to her. Scarlett began the trek back to Wintervale, the Nightfreeze's ancestral home.
She walked slowly, even though the sky grew darker with each passing moment. The wind picked up more, Scarlett hugging her sore arms to herself as she ducked her head. Rain began to fall, it's sound overpowering on the vibrant green leaves above her.
Dots of water trickled past them, their chilled drips painting her hair and face. Scarlett had spent a good majority of the last two months outside and hadn't ever been in a rush to return to the manor house. Above her, Scarlett caught sight of a sleek black owl. Her heart and pace quickened as she came to the wall that separated the grounds from the forest.
With a mighty toss, her bag went flying over the eight-foot stone wall. Next, Scarlett forced her bare feet and fingers into the broken areas of stone, pulling herself up the wall. She came to the top, the manor house finally coming into view. It loomed like a dark creature in the rainy distance.
Four gables were decorated with chimneys and finials that stretched towards the sky like skeletal hands. The back terrace was slowly deteriorating, the house in much need of some TLC, or so Scarlett thought as she finally dropped to the ground.
Mud splashed up onto her white dress, Scarlett scooping up her bag before weaving through unkempt hedges. The back garden echoed a once divine beauty, their two large fountains now murky and deep. The statues that resided in the middle of both were crumbling and covered in moss and grime.
The rain was deafening as it pounded the leaden waters. She hurried along, climbing one of the two staircases and ducking underneath the cornice and into the ballroom.
Inside, the room was dark and somewhat less musty than the rest of the house. In the corner, silver glistened in the steel gray light of the storm, a reminder of the coming event. Scarlett pulled the glass-paned door shut behind her, ready to replace the heavy curtain.
"Ah! There you are! I've been looking all over for you!" Scarlett's hair stood on end as she whipped around, taking in her uncle Leo on the other side of the room. In the dim light of the foyer behind him, he looked almost like a specter standing in the doorway.
He began to cross the room to her, his boots clicking on the marble and Scarlett recoiling into the musty curtain. She fought to control her breathing as she gripped the worn strap of her bag.
"Tut tut, look at you. You are absolutely filthy." Leo said, stopping short and taking her in. Scarlett glanced down, her muddy feet and dress a reflection of her walk back.
"Sneaking about the woods all day is not the way a young witch should behave." he nagged, as Scarlett rolled her eyes.
"I wasn't sneaking, I was reading and I needed some proper light. You keep it like a vampire liar in here." Scarlett shot, gesturing to the room. Leo's hand tightened on his walking stick, Scarlett eyeing the ruby eyes of the silver hyena.
"You are so much like her," he started, reaching out and taking a strand of her wet, stringy hair in between his fingers. The action made Scarlett's skin crawl. In the foyer, she could just make out two gray eyes peering over the door frame.
"Look at me when I talk to you," Leo commanded, dropping her hair and squeezing her chin. Scarlett met his dark eyes, almost black. They were brown eyes, but not like Hermione's or Fred's.
"Go upstairs and get cleaned up. Dinner will be ready by the time you finish." Leo instructed, dropping her chin and giving her a cold gaze. Scarlett crossed her arms and ducked around him, crossing the room.
"And they'll be no more ventures into the forest, understood?" he shot as Scarlett reached the door, the set of eyes now nowhere in sight. She paused, her hand on the door jam and she squeezed her eyes closed.
"Yes," she said, letting out a shaky breath as she started for the stairs.
"Yes what, Scarlett?" Leo snapped, still staring out into the drenched garden. Scarlett rounded the stairs, gripping the banister as if it were her only lifeline in a storm.
"Yes, Uncle Leo."
Scarlett stomped upstairs knowing full well she would hear about it at dinner. She stalked over to her door and gave it a hard slam before turning the lock. Her bag slipped off her shoulder, the room cold around her. She turned, leaning against the door as she hugged her arms to herself.
Since Scarlett had arrived at Wintervale in June, she had spent every night here in her mother's old bedroom. Scarlett imagined, at one time, it had been quite opulent with its tall, wooden headboard and marble fireplace.
Windows stood on the opposite wall, Scarlett having ripped down the gaudy deep red curtains on her second day here. The angry gray light cast a haze over her room as she sighed and walked over to the bathroom.
On her way, she maneuvered a labyrinth of books, all stacked in neat little piles. Since she had arrived, Scarlett had been sneaking a book a day from the expansive Wintervale library. She had organized them in piles based on subject and if they had been read and, slowly, had been returning them as if they had never been missing in the first place.
That plan had worked out great until last week when Uncle Leo caught her sneaking a Robert Frost book from one of the shelves. That alone had cost her a sore right arm and a lump on her shoulder from when he had shoved her into the mantle.
Inside the cold, tiled bathroom, Scarlett began to draw a bath. The old pipes creaked and groaned as the water that flowed through them grew warmer and warmer. She pulled off her sundress and tossed it in a corner, eyeing her upper body in the bathroom mirror.
Her scars from that night were still present, something Leo always wanted to see, especially when he had a few brandies in him. She turned, checking the bruise from last week, and was glad to see it had faded to a barely-there blue. Pursing her lips, Scarlett turned away, going to the tub.
The hot water was a welcome relief on her scabbed feet. Her body ached as she submerged herself slowly so as to not cause herself too much pain. Then, she finally dunked her head under the water.
Under the water, Scarlett felt as if her life had paused. Sometimes, memories would flash across her mind, other times she imagined she could force herself into a different dimension. She figured if she just waited long enough, she would come back up and in the Gryffindor girls washroom or back at Storm Hall where her mother would scold her for staying under too long.
Scarlett opened her eyes, wondering if it had worked when she spotted two gray eyes and a long nose jutting over the side of the porcelain tub. She immediately came up, her nose burning as she gripped the side.
"Volpey! What have I told you about privacy?" Scarlett groaned, reaching for her washcloth and pulling it over her non-submerged parts. She looked over to see the house-elf, Volpey, collecting her stained dress.
"Volpey is terribly sorry Mistress Stormblood. Volpey was worried about Mistress." Volpey said slowly, looking up at her. She stood less than two feet high, her feet wrapped in linens and her clothing a mere potato sack sporting the logo of a farm a few towns over.
Scarlett gave an annoyed sigh and shook her head.
"You know I don't like being called Mistress. It makes me feel old and weird, and as for being worried about me, you know you shouldn't be up here." Scarlett warned as Volpey held up her dress fabric and then gestured to a steeping cup on the small table beside the tub.
"Volpey has found good ways to get around Master Nott. Volpey knows how Master Nott can be," she said as Scarlett pursed her lips and eyed the house elf.
"Go on, before he finds out you were here. Thanks for the tea," Scarlett said gently as Volpey nodded and tossed her clothing over her shoulder. She disappeared through the cracked door and left Scarlett alone.
She stared at the ceiling, a water spot that would eventually take the whole thing with it glaring back at her. Around her, marble and tiles kept the room chilled as she submerged her head again.
It was long before she reappeared.
