~A lonely flame~ HOGWARTS X READER

~6~

                                                                  WRITTEN: February 1, 2021

                                                                                    1001 WORDS

                                                                                       READS: 50

Our group of four sat quietly that evening in the Gryffindor common room. I glanced over at Ron, who was chewing his lip angrily, his eyes flashing across his scroll of parchment. 

"There's a light on in Hagrid's hut,"

Harry noted, breaking the silence. I looked over at the raven-haired boy and saw him looking out the adjacent window. I, too, looked out and noticed the faint yellow glow of light from the decrepit hut across the field of wild grass and abnormally large flowers.

"If we hurried, I reckon we could make it,"

Ron said, glancing at his cracked leather watch.

"I dunno..."

Hermione said, pointedly staring at Harry with concern in her eyes.

"C'mon Mione,"

I started, closing my book and bumping her gently with a large smirk.

"-The dementors haven't let anyone in, and they're not allowed in the grounds. Harry's allowed to walk across the field... right?"

Harry grinned at me, and Hermione sighed deeply before giving in and recapping her inkwell. We all tromped out of the portrait hole and made our way across the wet grass. Once we made it to the large hut, Ron glanced at me anxiously before knocking loudly.

"Com'in."

Said a deep, rough voice from the other side of the disintegrating door. Ron and I pushed the door open together, and we all made our way into the cozy, candle-lit room. As soon as I entered, I could smell the vile stench of liquor. Hagrid sat, doing his washing with a large bottle of liquor (which was largely empty already). Before I had a chance to react to Hagrid's sad comments about the possibility of being sacked, I was overcome with a feeling I hadn't had for months. 

My head rushed with blood yet felt colder and colder as the moments passed. My vision of the scene before me - Hagrid sat on his armchair, Hermione sat on the small stool beside him and Ron and Harry trying to wrestle the liquor away from him - began to speckle away.

I was still in Hagrid's hut, but it was different. Light poured through the windows, and I could hear birds chirping outside of the window. I held on to the oversized table to re-orientate myself and backed into the corner of the room.

"But where IS the beast? I just saw him! Just now!"

My eyes trailed from the stone tiles of the floor to Hagrid's door. Faced towards the pumpkin patch was the minister for magic, his eyes wide and mouth agape. 

Beast?

"How extraordinary!"

Dumbledore was also here. 

The next few moments hurt. The voices were warbled, and my head ached. 

"-I could do with a cup of tea... or a large brandy."

Dumbledore's voice was clear, once more and I watched him re-enter the hut. Hagrid was close behind him, with the minister close on his trail. I saw the minister's mouth move like he was talking, but everything was silent. Hagrid's movements suddenly slowed like he was in slow motion as he reached for a large glass in his cabinet. The minister was also in slow motion, as was Dumbledore. The only sense I had left was the familiar stench of hard liquor as Hagrid's slow-motion pour of brandy entered Dumbledore's cup.

I was back. The light in the room diminished, and Hermione and Ron came into view. My head ached, and my knees collapsed. Suddenly, I was an aching heap on the floor.

"Y/N! Are you alright?!"

Hermione ran over to me, a concerned look on her face as she reached for my elbow to help me up.

"Yea-"

I began, groggily.

"-Sorry... got lightheaded."

I finished. After a few minutes of persuasion, I managed to get the topic of conversation away from my 'fainting episode' and back to Hagrid's dilemma. We all promised to assist Hagrid in his quest to save his job, by acting as witnesses. Malfoy's injury had to do with his own ignorance, rather than misdirection, and we could all attest to that. Hagrid left the hut and after a few moments of silence, a large splash was heard. I glanced worriedly at Harry who matched my expression.

"He's just dunked his head in a bucket of water."

Hermione said tiredly while putting away the empty liquor tankard.

"Tha's better."

Hagrid announced as he walked into the hut, his hair and beard dripping with water. 

"Thank ya all fer comin to see me...-"

Hagrid paused midsentence and turned his attention to Harry, only just recognizing what took place.

"WHA ARE YER DOIN HERE?! YER NOT ALLOWED TO GO ROAMIN' AROUND AFTER DARK!"

He yelled angrily pointing at Harry. He then turned to Ron, Hermione and I and continued his trade.

"AND YOU THREE LETTIN HIM GO OUT!"

We repeatedly apologized and left soon after the outburst, mostly walking in silence back to the castle which was now shrouded in darkness. We re-entered the common room and I checked my watch. It read 10:15 pm, meaning most people were either getting ready for bed or already asleep. We bid goodnight to the boys before trudging up the spiral staircase to our own dorm. Ginny was already asleep so we got ready for bed as quietly as possible. I decided to take a shower because after my little... episode I was drenched in sweat.

The hot water pelted down on my face, and the smell of my lavender, blackcurrant shampoo filled my nose. My shoulders were slumped with exhaustion and my brain could barely recall what I had learned that day. Once I was all ready for bed, Hermione was fast asleep. I stared up at the draped fabric above my bed and reflected on my vision.

Generally, visions arrived as warnings of future events that are yet to arrive. My visions are often prompted by strong sensory clues like in this case it was the strong scent of alcohol. In this instance (and in many others) not all of the details are obvious. Because of the warbled speech in my vision, I wasn't sure what 'beast' the men were discussing. 

Eventually, I resolved to sleep on it and hoped more would be revealed over time.

Author's note:

Hey guys! I know I haven't updated in a while but I hope you're enjoying the story so far! We're slowly getting more reads and it's making me soooo happy!! I hope you enjoyed this chapter (ooooo we learned more about y/n's visions!) and I would really appreciate it if you could leave a comment or two and a vote! I'm just hoping more people will start to read this! I hope you guys have a great day/night!