the girl who sees all

la vue

augustus sat with the rest of the order joined by his daughter. it was an odd feeling to be back. the man hadn't been with the order of the phoenix in the better part of twenty years.
to see so many familiar faces like minerva, albus, even sirius, it made him calm. it was the only time he would feel calm in the coming days. once augustus threw himself into the practice, especially in partnering with vanessa, he would become nearly untouchable to anyone but her. the thought of entering such a putrid realm again made augustus' eyes glaze over. his soul was as bruised as it could be. all of that death and sadness clinging to him, changed him as a person. fundamentally altered his brain chemistry. for the worse.
their practice was volatile. it was violent. augustus taught vanessa that it was a beautiful, strong thing. she would learn in her own time that it was a burden to the sorceress. if augustus could have chosen vanessa to be a squib, or to have at least the auclair gift skip over her, he would have in a heart beat. to have this pain and suffering skip over his only daughter would be a blessing.
the upcoming war would bring much death and destruction to the lives of those in the order of the phoenix, any witch or wizard could tell that. seers such as augustus and vanessa would be plagued tenfold that, constant retellings of death, visions of destruction.
vanessa was lied to as a child. augustus was a strong teacher, that was one thing. initially, he tried to be honest with her. then he started to teach what she would actually listen to. she would only listen to harmony, to the crop growing, to the souls passing over. she would not listen to the cleansing of grounds after battle, or the tremors of death shaking her own beating heart. it was the worst lie he had ever had to tell his daughter. the special bond the two seers shared is that there were no lies- seers cannot lie to each other. but it was not that simple. he was doing his best to protect her. augustus would do anything he could to protect his daughter, because there would come a time, in the not so far future, when she would be the only person who could protect herself.
augustus was terrified for his daughter. war and death had hardened the eldest auclair already. the youngest was soon to learn. especially once augustus had discovered vanessa's prophecy, and he was absolutely heartbroken to hear how tangled she would be in this.
seers as powerful as the auclairs receive their own prophecies. it comes as a path to follow. power such as theirs can become misguiding and get the practitioners into trouble. the prophecies are guidebooks, so to speak. however, a seer will never find their own prophecy, unlike a normal witch or wizard who can only find their own.
augustus had seen vanessa's only moments before albus dumbledore had appeared on the steps of the small home in clovelly. it's why he was in london, coming with his daughter. he needed to make sure she was prepared for what true evil she was to face.
the auclair elder was not lost in his thoughts for long. vanessa was deep into strategic planning with sirius when a group appeared in the doorway. augustus could only see a few of their faces, but recognized one of the more youthful as harry potter.
he knew that his daughter and the young potter lad attended hogwarts together, but didn't know if they were close. instead of embarrassing her, augustus chose to let his daughter handle her social status. he could understand why a slytherin and gryffindor faced social backlash and it was more than likely that the two were not friends.
vanessa was quick to stand, hopeful to introduce herself to the boy. sirius had informed augustus and vanessa that harry was sirius' godson. augustus was happy for sirius. after being locked up in azkaban for so long, wrongfully, sirius deserved to have someone who understood him for who he was; flawed, but kind and gentle.
arthur's wife molly had beaten vanessa to the door, and cut off the point of entry to the kitchen. it was made evident to vanessa at that point that the introduction of vanessa to the situation would be controlled. as she was, a slytherin.
it's not like it's a dirty word, vanessa quipped, i've only ever been kind.
and that was the truth. vanessa and hermione granger, a friend of harry potter's were paired together in class work on several occasions. they rivaled each other for top marks, and made them the favorites of most professors.
"vanessa, dear," molly weasley returned to the room after a moment. "you'll be sharing a room with hermione, and my daughter ginny. i'll have them introduce you to the others before supper. if you go up the staircase, it's the second door on the right. can't miss it, dearie!"
molly weasley needed to address vanessa's father. the man reeked of whiskey. it was a tragic thing to see a man of such greatness fall to such lows. she could never understand the evils they'd seen, but he needed to keep it together for an hour while the lot of them sat for a home cooked meal.
vanessa was happy to meet more living people. twelve grimauld place was packed with dead people. she was thankful the living weren't so terribly outnumbered. thankful for molly's help, the young woman quickly made her ascent to the above ground catacombs of the headquarters.
small noises and odd thumps were heard around the staircases in the surrounding rooms. vanessa's abilities quickly picked up on the spirit of an angry older woman, who was not happy with the guests inside the home that was once hers. vanessa made a mental note to make fast work of that over here time here. with energy that loud, it was difficult to assume that vanessa was the only person bothered by this spirit.
a small knock on the door finally alerted ginny weasley and hermione granger someone was outside.
hermione opened the door to see the familiar face of vanessa auclair outside the threshold. ginny and vanessa had never truly interacted, being in different years and houses, but most gryffindors never had an issue with vanessa- she was kind, friendly, and minded herself. she never made trouble for the gryffindors the way people like malfoy or parkinson's did.
"oh, hello vanessa," hermione said, surprised.
"did mrs weasley not tell you i was coming?" vanessa asked, nervous to intrude. "i'm sorry, i didn't mean to-"
her skills with the dead were perfect. however it was evident her skills navigating interactions with her own were a bit stifled.
"no! no, please come in! molly simply told us a seer would be joining us for a bit. she never mentioned it was you," hermione explained, letting the young girl in through the door.
"sorry to disappoint," the auclair witch joked with a small smile, causing hermione to give a small chuckle.
it was evident hermione was not expecting a slytherin. vanessa could understand the shock.
"hello, i'm ginny," the youngest red head introduced herself to once vanessa had chosen the only empty bed left in the room.
"pleasure ginny, i'm vanessa." the two young witches shook hands. it was nice to be treated like an equal around others.
very few at hogwarts knew of her true capabilities. it was the best way to keep her safe, especially in dark times like this. only professors knew, because she needed extended privileges for practicing and tutoring. at hogwarts, vanessa was never treated like an equal within students of her own house, because she was less than pure-blooded. families like the malfoys, parkinsons and knotts thrived exclusively off blood purity. vanessa believed it was a bit too close to inbreeding for her own liking.
"i can't believe i didn't know you're a seer" hermione smiled at the witch once her and ginny had released hands. "it makes so much sense now! extra tutoring you received, extra books?"
"you watched me that closely?" vanessa asked, smirking.
hermione's cheeks went red. "you were the only person i rivaled in our year for marks. of course i had to make sure you weren't cheating!"
the young witch gave a bright laugh. she knew that she'd have to gain the trust of the students. being in slytherin was a disadvantage socially for vanessa. however, it encouraged her to achieve greatness. she'd need to be patient, but she could become their friends. in a world as lonely as the one vanessa was destined to lead, friendship and love was one of the few things that would make her life worth living.