𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐬 [𝖍.𝖌]

two | dementor, dementor

𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐫—𝐦𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐳

𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐢'𝐦 𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠—𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐭

[1 september, 1992]

Dahlia traced the glass window with the pad of her finger, leaving a trail of condensation behind. She couldn't stop thinking about Hermione. She hadn't seen the bushy-haired girl—or for that matter, anyone she knew—at Diagon Alley yesterday. Not keeping up with her friends made her itchy with paranoia. Not knowing how she and Hermione were going to meet again made her sick. She rolled her lips into her mouth. Too many uncertainties. She took her finger off the glass and balled her hand into a fist.

"It's not usually this cold during the ride, is it?" The redhead turned to look at her foster sister, who was staring at the glass curiously. White icy frost collected at the edges, slowly growing and materialising towards the centre. The view outside was dark and rainy. Dahlia couldn't make out where they were. She opened her fist

"Yeah," she responded, rubbing her index fingers and her thumbs together. "Scotland's cold this time of year, but not that cold." As soon as the words left her mouth, a loud screeching sound like metal against metal filled the compartment. Dahlia looked around in confusion, pressing her hands to the cold glass and trying to peer outside.

"Lumos," said Julie, lighting her wand and placing it near the glass.

"Put that off, it's only producing a glare." Dahlia sat back at the seat, her eyebrows furrowed. Julie looked at her inquisitively. "No way we're there yet, we've got an hour to go until we get to the castle."

But Julie wasn't looking at her. "Look at your water." Dahlia turned to observe. The water in her half-empty bottle was turning to ice. They looked at each other in alarm.

"What is that?" she demanded. The Hufflepuff frowned.

"I—I don't know, I've never seen that before. Is it something outside?" They both squinted, trying to see. It was dark and desolate, nothing like the warm sunshine and the rolling hills and wide green pastures that Dahlia had gotten accustomed to staring at. Rain pounded the train, pouring down the glass and effectively warping the view and hiding any clues as to what was happening.

Julie suddenly stood up and opened the compartment door. Dahlia followed and they both poked their heads out. Other kids were doing the same, confused commotion filling the hall.

"We can't be there yet," announced a worried fifth year in the compartment next to them. Julie to them. "No way we're there yet." Suddenly the lights flickered off, plunging the car into darkness. Panicked voices rose, inducing a flurry of hasty movement in the car, with people trying to grab their friends and pull them into the nearest compartment. And the compartment doors closed on their own, forcing Julie and Dahlia back into it and causing them to land on the floor with a heavy thud.

"Ouch!" yelped the twelve-year-old. Julie picked herself up, rubbing her sore tailbone.

'Get up." Dahlia was already up, her face ghostly pale. She locked the door hurriedly and snatched Julie's still-lit wand.

"Dahlia?" asked Julie confusedly, but the sine witch couldn't hear her. Using Julie's wand, she searched for her own frantically. She found it and drew it, chanting a spell.

"Lumos Maxima," she chanted. "Lumos Maxima, Lumos Maxima, Lumos Maxima—Julie, here's your wand—" She shoved Julie's beige wand back into her hands. "Conjure a fire, or a beam, or—or anything warm, okay? Think happy thoughts, anything, just make them strong, okay?" She went back to chanting the spell. The tip of her wand flared with a light so bright, Julie turned her head, her back of her eyelids etched with the shape of the light.

"Lia!" she exclaimed fearfully. That got Dahlia's attention. She stopped chanting, and the light went out almost suspiciously quickly.

"What?" she asked, breathing slightly rapidly. "Are—are you okay? Hurt?"

"I'm fine, but you're scaring me." Her voice shook. "What's going on?"

"Dementors." Dahlia's freckled face looked ghostly in the cold light of Julie's wand.

"What?" asked Julie, but Dahlia had already turned away, murmuring spells over her wand. The compartment flickered with a blazing light, but it was gone just as quickly as it had lit. "DAHLIA!" She stopped again. "What are dementors?"

Dahlia's face was a mix of surprise and dread. "Dementors are soulless creatures, and they make you feel awful. And they Kiss you—"

"What?"

"And they suck out your soul."

"WHAT?"

"And they feed on happy thoughts but the only thing you can use to fight them is a Patronus, which is a soulless guardian that takes the shape of an animal to ward them off," she finished, panting slightly. "And barely any wizards on this train know how to produce a Patronus, so if you don't help me either conjure one or try to ward them off, we're fucked." Julie stood there, mouth opened slightly. Dahlia snapped her fingers in front of her face. "Move."

They sprang into action. But after numerous attempts to conjure a Patronus(Expecto patronum, thank god for Dahlia's habit of reading ahead), or a brilliant light(Julie thought Dahlia's magic had been acting slightly erratically, but that could have just been the high-stress factor of the situation they were in now). "What if we're just silent?" pressed Julie. Dahlia rolled her lips in her mouth. They had tried everything else she could think of.

"Okay. Come on." Dahlia dragged Julie into the most shadowy corner of the compartment. Both the girls had changed into their Hogwarts robes already, so Dahlia pulled up her hood and tried to cover any signs of life she could find. She might be able to turn invisible, but Julie couldn't. And she wasn't going to leave her.

The temperature dropped. The windows cracked with ice. Julie shivered. A spindly clawed hand reached for the handle to the compartment, its flesh mottled with black and rot. The stench of decay burned the girls' nostrils, and Dahlia clapped a shaking hand over their mouths so they wouldn't vomit.

The rotting hand moved slowly, forming a gesture in midair akin to pulling something. The compartment door slid open softly, not making a sound. Julie pressed herself harder against the freezing wall.

The dementor entered, the tattered cloth blowing in an invisible wind. And the world went cold.

Dahlia went stiff. A wave of hopelessness washed over her—like she wasn't going to be happy again. Her energy was sapped. Her eyelids fluttered. Her mind went dark like she was falling unconscious, and in the back of her mind, she was aware that she might not wake up. A woman's high scream echoed in the back of her brain, and a cold, cruel laugh.

Her eyes closed. She registered white noise and a ringing in her ears. The last thing she remembered was a silver light lighting up the black space behind her eyelids and a doe's soft bleat before she fell into the darkness.

i'm so pathetic last week i wanted to go to the football game today but all my friends either are not picking up, cancelled AT THE LAST MINUTE, or they're busy. but i ended up going and it was INSANE we won in the last 20 seconds by 1 point. apparently the highlights were on fox news at 10 but i was tired and all week i've been sounding really nasally

and the same day i had to go the dentist and get two cavity fillings my lip was so numb and the fluoride they put on your teeth after makes me throw up :/ but at least my teeth are nice and white

and today i took the psat and then school went overtime (like five minutes BUT STILL). and the freshmen (derogatory) came to school at noon and i was sweating in a classroom at 7:45 am

fact of my life: i want to be a forensic scientist, but i'm planning on majoring in sociology or natural science or straight up forensics. i have no desire to take a test as long as the MCAT but i really want men to call me doctor and i really want money

fact of my life 2 because why not: i have a crossover in this AU coming up hehe let's see if i get around to posting the book tho it's been in my drafts for months but it has a demigod oc :)