it all ends with us: ruins

034

Chapter Thirty-Four:

"You made pain look pretty."

"I feel like I'm losing all control." Atlas explains.

"I understand. You feel as though you can't control your powers?" Dumbledore questions.

"The second I get angry it's as if there's a whole new me. I do things that I don't want to do. I start hurting people. It's not me, I don't want to but I can't ever fight the feeling no matter how hard I try to push it away." Atlas explains further.

The conversation with Dumbledore lasted a whole hour. Atlas had explained every little moment where she had lost control of her powers including the events that happened today. He listened intently and asked questions where it was important but for the most part he watched the young girl blurt out all of her emotions. It had been clear that her siphoning powers had been stronger than her banshee ones. Atlas never mentioned the ritual to let Harry see his parents though. She knew she would've gotten in trouble for that.

"If you're interested, I know a way to keep your powers at bay. However, it should only be used if you're certain that you want to" Dumbledore suggests.

"What is it?" Atlas questions.

Dumbledore rummages through a draw on the side of his desk. He pulls out a rustic wooden box. It looked antique. It had been stained dark brown and had small patterns carved into the sides of the box. Dumbledore pushes it towards the girl. Atlas picks it up carefully and opens it. Inside was a bracelet. It looked dainty and fragile but was still absolutely beautiful.

"It'll keep your powers away until you're ready to use them again. As long as you have it on you will not be able to siphon anything." Dumbledore explains.

"I understand."

Atlas slips the bracelet onto her right wrist. She clasps it to the tightest link to make sure that it doesn't fall off. It looks foreign on her hand and Atlas evaluates whether she is making the right decision or not.

"Thank you Professor."

Atlas' gut feeling told her to take the bracelet off and chuck it as far away as she could. It was burning her skin but she knew that Dumbledore was one of the wisest wizards and he wouldn't have given her something that could hurt her. She shook the bad feelings she got from the bracelet and pushed it as far away as she could.

"Hey Atlas." Cormac shouts as Atlas walks through the halls.

"Hey." Atlas pauses forgetting her name.

"Cormac remember? You promised to hang out." He reminds her.

"Oh yeah, can we get a rain check on that. I'm quite busy today." Atlas tells him not really wanting to hang out with him.

"Sure, sometime soon though yeah?" He asks.

"Yeah of course." She lies.

"McLaggen." Draco's voice echoes.

"Malfoy." Cormac replies stiffly.

The two stare each other down like dogs and Atlas feels uncomfortable standing between them. She steps slightly out of the way as the two try to intimidate each other with their death glares.

"I need to talk to Atlas." Draco states.

"I'm not stopping you mate." Cormac rebuts.

"Alone." He says sternly.

"I'll see you later Atlas." Cormac winks and swiftly leaves.

Atlas shivers after the encounter with the boy. She's never remembered his name and overall he gave her a really bad feeling. She knew she wasn't going to hang out with him at all and hoped that he would get the hint and leave her alone.