𝒞𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝐹𝒾𝓋𝑒
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A breeze ran through the garden, stirring awake the world with its gentle but fleeting touch. Soft music from the faint rustle of the leaves as they brushed against each other. Flowers of all kinds pushed into dances, swaying back and forth with each other. A butterfly shook from its rest, fluttering along in search of a new perch.
The butterfly followed the breeze, its mostly pitch black coloring making it almost too easy to spot. And the white arcs on each wing make it easy to name as a White Admiral… butterflies have the strangest names. But it carried along, leaving the comfort of the flowers and venturing along the path. Passing so close by the approaching man that he must have felt the faint brush of a wing. And undeterred by the close run-in, off it went, disappearing from sight as it passed the man.
Iris stirred from her own rest, eyes fluttering open slowly. Nothing seemed to cross her mind. Not a single thought about the unfamiliar ceiling above her. Or the strange feel of the blanket thrown overtop her. Or the quiet sounds coming from beside her.
No. All Iris had the sense to pay any mind upon waking up was that pit in her stomach. That lingering sense of dread hid in the deepest part of her head. And… the way she was struggling to breathe.
Tall, dark hair, and those strange dark green eyes with the ring of cobalt blue. He contained both a level of elegance in every step he took and a noticeable strength… power. He screamed it. And more often than not, eyes would fall away right there. Unable to look beyond the power and so unable to see what was beyond.
But if one did have the ability to look further, to focus on what else was there… you would find exhaustion. And if you watched as he approached the gazebo, his eyes landing on the small girl… you could find the faintest but most sincere of smiles.
Dark hair and those strange dark green eyes with the ring of cobalt blue. Sat across from Professor Edwin Lancaster as he rambled on about that day's lesson plan. His teachings clearly going in one ear and out the other.
Stuffing his hands into his pockets, the man called out while stepping into the gazebo, "How is today's lesson going, Ed?"
If one were to watch the man closely, one would immediately spot the way his eyes crinkled as the question was thrown into the air. A quick bit of regret as he sent the ever-eccentric Edwin Lancaster into his usual rambles that came with such open-ended questions. But proving patient, the tall man just relaxed his shoulders and listened with the most polite of smiles.
The man's eyes flicked over to the girl for a brief moment, his smile remaining but eyes once more giving away something else. Worry… worry from the way she still seemed very much in her own world.
The two men spoke for a few minutes. Well, no. Edwin spoke for a few minutes until the tall man cut in as politely as he could manage. Eventually, managing to send Edwin packing and off, a promise to pick up the lesson the next day instead.
And so as Edwin left with a quick bow and "Your Majesty, Your Royal Highness.", the man waited not a second longer to turn towards the young girl who sat picking at her dress.
Kneeling to her level, using the arms of the chair to steady himself, Leonardo Blackwell studied his daughter. Smiling softly as one simple question left him, "You feel it as well?"
Pushing through her mild struggle… Iris silently attempted to ground herself, doing her best to not disturb her friend only inches away. Just trying to gain herself back.
Five senses…
A method her father had used with her all her life… a method her father had used for himself.
And Iris would never admit to being the best at pushing through her attacks on her own… but she always found a way to manage. Even if only just holding on by the most delicate of threads. She always managed… mostly because she really just had to.
So regaining her regular breathing pattern, Iris almost seemed to come back to life with one big breath in. A level of awareness reignited in her eyes. But only just… her head turning to see Theodore Nott leaning against the headboard. His neck awkwardly contorted, and a book held barely in his limp hands.
Turning her eyes back to the ceiling, Iris let out a long breath… her mind wandering again.
Her eyes nervously met his, her head tilting in the smallest of nods.
His smile remained, but his own eyes couldn't hide the vail of… pity… yeah, pity, "How about we take a walk?"
The girl… Iris… perked up, "Can we go to the fountain?"
Iris left the bed as carefully as she could manage, cringing to herself when her weight shifted to the floor, a groan of a creak sounding out. She checked back on Theodore for a moment, relaxing as she seemed to confirm that he had not been stirred awake.
Silently she made her way toward the bathroom door. Closing it softly behind her before she seemed to finally release a breath, her sigh heavy… loaded with whatever was working away in that head of hers.
She turned to the mirror hung above the sink, meeting her own gaze… her eyes dark. Her gaze heavy… loaded.
He carried her on his back, her small arms wrapped around his shoulders as if he were her lifeline, his grip on her legs gentle as if holding her up was the easiest task in the world. Her head rested on his shoulder, tilted and looking off to the side. Watching the breeze move over the gardens with tired eyes.
She was the first to break the quiet, her childlike voice soft, "What is it?"
Leonardo sighed as he seemed to pull out from his own head, his eyes growing heavy, his smile insincere, "You, just like I, and the many generations of the Royal Line experience presentiments." Her eyes narrowed in question, one he quickly answered, "It means we have felt that something is going to happen. Oftentimes something… bad and big."
"But we aren't seers." The statement was so obvious of a place to get stuck for her young mind. Leo did find his smile being a bit more genuine.
"It isn't really seeing the future. Just more of a danger sense. A strong intuition or gut feeling," his brief bout of happiness faded, smile disappearing entirely." For us, it is just a feeling… we don't have the ability to quite know what is coming our way. Just strong feelings…."
"But you knew grandpa was going to die based on the feeling?"
She was in his head… she knew very well that there was more.
Spotting the fountain coming into view, she lifted her head, chin resting on his shoulder as she looked forward.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Leo hummed to himself as he shifted her in his hold a bit, "That was… different. That was an all-consuming dread. Something in me just knew that my time to take the crown was coming. That was a feeling I couldn't even begin to explain… I guess there are just some events that we do know are coming."
The quiet washed over each of them again.
Just feet away from the fountain, Leo placed Iris down, hand digging into his pocket as she found her feet. Pulling out a coin just in time to drop into her waiting hand. And then he followed her to the water.
Leo took a seat on the stone edge of the fountain, his shoulders falling to relax as his eyes closed,
Iris stood at the stone edge, closing her own eyes for a moment before stiffly holding her coin out over the water.
Plop…
It almost seemed wrong for such a young girl to be frowning, watching her coin sink with her wish with not a trace of joy. Eyes locked onto her own eyes through the reflection of the water…
"I don't think I like presentiment much."
Iris tore her eyes from the mirror and towards the running water of the sink. Splashing herself once with the cold water. Letting the memory and all focus on that sense of dread wash away.
~~~~~~
Theodore was awake when Iris left the bathroom, rubbing at the knot that had most certainly built into his neck. He noticed Iris return and simply watched her as she moved her way back to the bed. Stiff as could be when she sat at the edge, back turned to him, hands gripping the edge… ready to bolt up at any moment.
He dropped the hand from his neck, eyes drilling into the back of her head only an arm's length away from the spot he had uncomfortably fallen asleep in. And as time seemed to drag, he realized that she would not be the one to break the quiet.
So he started where it seemed most sensible to start… after all, she was still dressed in his night clothes, "Your outfit from yesterday has some blood over it. But that should be an easy fix if you want to clean up. Just need—"
Her head was shaking before he could even finish, and finally, she spoke… voice oddly hoarse from a lack of use, "I don't want to wear those."
He paused but simply just readjusted the plan, mind working quickly for a solution. Not even thinking to mention the odd nature of his friend, "I suppose you can fit into one of my sweaters… trousers are a no, though." His face shifted as if he was asking a question to himself, "But I think…."
He trailed off as he mindlessly left the bed, beginning to sift through drawers.
Iris took the time to allow her eyes to wander, taking in the room, Theodore's space. For a teenager, their room is the one place they can make their own. Make into their own area that completely reflects them that showcases their interests. Even the most prim and proper rooms have touches of those living inside.
For Theodore, it was the wall of bookshelves. They spanned from wall to wall and from ceiling to floor. Filled to the brim with certainly more books than he had yet to read. Some were clearly untouched, their spines too perfect. Others looked as if they had been through hell, worn and creased. The hard covers were harder to make out use of… but one could assume the books towards the top were probably there more to fill space than to actually read.
He had books that spanned all genres… and he seemed to have a curious amount of history and educational books… Theodore Nott would be the type to learn for fun. But honestly… learning about magic in itself did seem fun.
But as grand as his personal library was, Iris already knew that about him. That he was the weird kid who sat alone at lunch, reading his life away.
She was looking for something at least a tad bit more personal… but it can be hard to find in spaces kept so put together and proper. Something could be said for the lack of anything personal, though, not even so much of a family picture on his nightstand. He… lacked anything personal to put in his room…
But Iris searched, looking for other small bits of Theodore. She had almost given up when it caught her attention. The green object tucked away between the bed and the nightstand. Looking as if it had fallen at some point and been long forgotten about.
A smile tugged at Iris' lips for the first time that morning. Saving the green blob from its tight prison, she took it in both hands.
It was the turtle plushy she had made for her Transfiguration exam instead of a real turtle, "I thought you would have burned this."
Theodore looked up from his search, spotting the plushy in her hands and looking quite a bit confused, "Forgot I had it."
Squishing the shell, she nodded, "Poor guy was on the floor," but then a mischievous look jumped into her eyes, "But he had to have been on your bed at some point. Had something to remember me nearby at night, did you?"
"More like I threw it there, and it fell off when I went to bed one night."
A frown fought away the smile as Theodore ignored the bait. Iris just hummed as she placed the turtle beside her, "Well, treat him better this time."
Quiet settled back into the room. Theodore still on the hunt, and Iris just fading back into herself. Her hands clenched in her lap.
Theodore perked up as he finally found what he had been searching for… joggers. Approaching Iris, he held them out, "I found these in London a while back. They seemed comfortable."
Unlike the night before, Iris was quick to snatch the clothes and hurry off to change without any pushing. Allowing Theodore to focus on his own outfit for the day.
He would come and go from the bathroom down the hall before Iris had finished up in his bathroom, but he didn't seem to give it much mind as he began work on fixing up his bed.
Theodore was only halfway through smoothing the sheets when something caught his attention. An odd smell that seemed all too familiar but, at the same time, didn't seem befitting for the room. It was faint… didn't have any real discernible quality to it… but it almost carried a suffocating nature with it. It was the kind of smell that rose panic… a smell so repulsive that you just knew it was terrible. It was—
Smoke. A fire.
Theodore bolted to the bathroom, moving quicker than he ever had before. Flicking his wand at the lock before barging in.
Then he stopped. Stunned at the sight he was taking in.
Iris stared down at the sink, the black of her jacket from the day before only just visible as the flames engulfed it. Her wand was in hand… the fire controlled as it ate away at the pile of clothing in the sink.
He could relax at that… the fire was at least controlled… but the true cause of his panic…. Iris was still very much so an unknown.
She watched the flames with the most unrecognizable of expressions. One Theodore was not quite sure he had ever seen from her… it was hard to make out just what was swirling through her eyes, mixing with the flickering of the fire.
"I wanted to kill that man last night… I considered killing you in that duel… I wanted to make Hermione suffer when she thought my father was abusive… I….” She looked to Theodore, "I don't like that side of me, Theo."
He could place it… that look in her eyes. Yeah… it was fear…. Fear of herself.
Theodore froze under that gaze. Hardly able to think, let alone comfort or respond. But if he didn't pull himself together… no one would be there to help her. So he pushed through.
"Granger and I are still standing… and that man was still breathing when I got there…."
Her gaze was so unnerving…. Which was normal… but this was so unlike Iris. This wasn't the same watchful gaze that contained more knowledge than it should. This wasn't the controlled eyes of a girl who caused others to cower. This wasn't the gaze filled with unbridled rage.
This was just the wide eyes of someone who felt they had no control over themself. Who knew just what they were capable of and absolutely feared everyone else would find out as well. This was the fear of someone who knew that with one snap of the mind… she would do unforgivable things.
"You held back, Iris… you still didn't do it. You kept yourself together every time. You aren't a monster."
He had found the keywords. Iris snapped back almost immediately, and a visible awareness returned. Blinking a few times, she turned back to the fire, watching blandly.
Theodore took a deep breath, relaxing fully as he glanced at the fire. Then he looked to the girl, happy to notice she had changed but less happy to see his night clothes in her hand, "Can you give those back before you decide to burn them as well?"
Iris looked at the clothes in her hand, then up to meet Theodore's eyes. She seemed to be thinking of something… the seconds passed by slowly. The boy had nearly asked again when she spoke, "You are the same height as me."
How was he supposed to respond to that? And after what had just happened? And with what was still happening? No one knows. And lucky for Theodore, he didn't have to. Iris quickly finished her thought, "That's annoying."
"You started a fire in my sink."
~~~~~~
Iris stumbled through the fire back into her and Remus's home just an hour later. Dressed in black joggers and a bright red sweater, she was certainly not winning any points in style. Luckily the house was empty, so the only two people on this planet that would see Iris looking nothing short of a hot mess were herself and Theodore Nott.
She dragged herself down the hall and into her room, the door slamming behind her as she proceeded to throw herself on the bed. Blindly reaching for the walkman on her nightstand, Iris slammed the headphones over her ears before hitting play.
Stretching out her arms and legs, Iris just stared up at the ceiling. Allowing her brain to shut off as she let the music flood in.
She had decided right then and there that it was the perfect day to waste away in the comfort of her bed.