the girl who sees all

échapper

vanessa auclair lived her whole life around the idea of embracing her gifts. all of the lessons her father held during her summer holidays taught her that if she didn't allow her powers to become a part of her, a transition with grace, they'd eat her alive and swallow her whole. the young girl was not impressed by this information, and found herself less open to the idea. how was something that had the power to swallow her whole able to coexist? at such a young age, she had no real understanding of power. it was easily assumed, since her father told her this when she was seven, that her father wasn't the best instructor for this sensitive information.

augustus auclair had been morphed into a distant and unavailable father to vanessa since she was young. he had been away constantly, learning and chasing his visions. he clearly did not understand the message behind self preservation, vanessa always thought to herself. not to imply these wounds were self-inflicted, the auclair line was built for this. but according to family legend and lore, her father was especially lax when it came to rules. he had lost many people to this type of magic. such intense and powerful responsibility was enough to drive people mad, or drive people to recklessness. he feared if he did not prepare his daughter with such candor she would fall apart just the same. every time augustus saw his daughter roll her young and bright eyes during their lessons, it was a flashback to a dead friend of his, burned to death or drowned, or sliced in half. she would only pay attention when she was ready, and he knew that. he just had such hope that she wouldn't feel the loss that all other auclairs felt. that's why augustus fell in love with daphne, a kind and gentle muggle.

daphne auclair, vanessa's mother, worked tirelessly. she was a muggle midwife in their small village of clovelly, in devon. magic money doesn't pay the muggle bills, daphne always spoke to her daughter. daphne took over the entire financial burden of the family so augustus could be a teacher to vanessa when she was younger. the young daphne had vanessa at the age of nineteen, and was still shockingly fresh faced for her age. daphne liked to give the babies she saw all the credit, claiming their pureness and their innocence kept her youthful. the happy woman was so blessed in her own right simply to help women bring their children into this plane of existence with them. she knew she would never be gifted the way augustus and vanessa were, but she didn't want to be. she was a neutral vessel in dangerous, estuarine waters, just like those faced outside the cost of clovelly. she was knowledgeable of the power held by her husband and daughter, but she was a blanket of security for the both. for her, that was the most power she could ever want. daphne did not feel jealousy like other muggles would were they in her stead. it was what made her so peaceful.

vanessa was thankful for the parents she had. so it made running away to paris that much more difficult. to break away from such a safe and powerful bond that was formed with her parents was terrifying. due to the fragility and strength of the auclair gift, the youthful witch barely traveled anywhere by herself. the young girl had been having traumatic visions of the downfall of the wizarding race ever since you-know-who had opened the chamber of secrets almost three years ago. it's as if his evil magic had climbed through the pipes to find the young seer. it started with bad dreams when children began to be petrified. the auclair girl was one of those in the social running for the heir of slytherin title after those bad dreams turned into volatile, fully body visions, however it was a race she never entered herself.

with just a note to her parents, vanessa had left.

maman, papa

i am safe. please do not look for me. i needed to clear my head, to learn and explore. i know how to call for help if i need it.

amour,

vanessa

she needed to leave, get distance, and figure things out. especially with credic diggory's death just mere weeks behind her, she couldn't fathom returning to school. she wish she was so mindless, so able to move on. a death so unnatural as that would stick with someone so sensitive as vanessa. the entire energy, the enigma, surrounding cedric's corpse was putrid with rotten meat, and decay. that was an evil, wrongful death. a death that deserved to be avenged.

the young auclair witch did not know if she planned on returning. cowardice and self preservation were two different things, and auclair took her visions as the latter. however, she had an inkling she was not free for long.

nine days of travel brought her from clovelly to paris. nine days of thestrals, caravans, trains, and walking. she knew her parents would understand. however, there's a difference between worry, and understanding. if her father truly needed to find her, he could get a message to her. they share soul connections. they communicate telepathically when it's a truly life or death matter. however, she knew that he wouldn't. augustus would be too busy consoling daphne. her father would take off for months on end to explore new visions with no notice of where he was, or if he was even alive. a note, that shred of respect of common courtesy, was enough to let them know she would be alright. doesn't mean that her parents won't sit up for extra time at night, hoping she would come home.

the witch found a pub similar to hog's head in the wizarding hub of paris. yeux tres the bar was named, meaning eyes three in english. it was primarily a bar for seers and psychics. having a bar for just seers and psychics was the only way they could gamble without constantly being accused of cheating. they mostly played games of true luck, like muggle card games- poker, rummy, and euchre. it was quite a sight to see seers and psychics alike trying to win games by their own wit, and not by praying off the wit of others.

"you're young to be here, you must be lost" the burly bartender barked at the aulcair witch in french. he was drying beer pints with a black dish rag, while simultaneously making sure vanessa wasn't a dark wizard.

"no," she responded, "however i'd like a room, if you're vacant."

the room was... minimalist, in a positive light. vanessa had a window that showed the fields rolling out to the wizarding village beneath them. it was one of the only sources of light, besides the gas light on her bedside table. the walls were white. chipped.

stone was exposed. raw, exposed stone. it was spiritually recharging for the young seer. it was like a palette cleanser after a long day of eating and smelling odd things. it allowed her to feel raw emotion that was only entirely herself. which was rare. this was one of the special things about coming to a pub especially for people like her.

being a gifted seer meant she could see the dead, as well as hear loud thoughts of others passing by. even around other seers. the lounge of this pub was full of psychics. thoughts, spirits, and disembodied voices flew around the room like snow swirls around in the english countryside near christmas. there was an absolute flurry of psychic energy that was taking it over. anyone inexperienced in handling their abilities would have fallen over from the force of how impactful the energy is. this energy did not leave as the seer left. these things follow the witch or wizard, they stick around. vanessa knew this was why her father turned out the way he did after years of using his gift with such exuberance. he was alive, but he wasn't living anymore.

vanessa just needed to grieve the life that was taken from her.

the simplicity of life was stolen from her at birth. the bombarding of life from every angle, down to her own soul, her life wasn't her own anymore. that's the curse of being a seer.

these individual rooms were charmed and given the equivalent to a spiritual padding. in this room, vanessa auclair was completely by herself. for a change, that was what was needed. the young girl could not bring herself to force the same energies everyday that had taken cedric diggory's life that day. she could not bare it. knowing she was going to need to face it head on one day was enough to scare her into fleeing her home. her background is french, her family is french. but her home would always be the two bedroom in clovelly.