Icy Heart #wattys2017

The Trail Home

"Stop that!" snapped Sirius. The duo were at a crescent near Harry's house... Magnolia, Icy thought it was called.

"Stop what?" she asked, smiling. Sirius took a deep breath.

"Kindly stop wandering about my mind, Icy," he said sternly. "I can feel it, you know?"

"It's cute how nervous you are, Black. You'll be fine. Harry will be okay, I promi- Turn!" Icy shoved Sirius down, as she watched a boy around her age, wearing spectacles, with raven hair and green eyes. "Harry," she said slowly, a little awestruck to be seeing this person who was all that Sirius ever talked about.

Harry drew his wand, muttered Lumos, and pointed it at her. Icy froze, like a deer in headlights, and ran her hand through her long, auburn hair.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"A witch." she responded. "Wanna see?" Without waiting for an answer, Icy swished her hand, and his wand flew towards her. His jaw dropped, and she tossed it back.

"Who are you, specifically?" Harry asked.

"Who am I? I'm a thirteen year old girl, not easy on the eyes, orphan, have this gift called Legilimency where I can read every thought that you're having right now, and thank you for the compliment, but I'm the ugliest duckling there is."

"But-"

"I'm Icy Peverell," she sighed. "Go on, run away," Icy shooed Harry with her hands, and he gave her a blank look. "So you haven't heard yet?"

"Heard of what?"

"Nothing. Where are you going, Harry?" her eyes moved down to his trunk and broom, and he shrugged.

"Anywhere but here. My Aunt and Uncle are terrible, and their company was insulting my parents... So, I accidentally blew her up." Harry looked at his feet, and Icy laughed.

"Wait until I'm a few blocks away, Harry, and then stick out your wand. I'm sure you have money on you? The Knight Bus will take you wherever you need," Icy advised him, knowing of the emergency transport because of Sirius. "And just remember: Only the guilty ones go mad. And we're both relatively sane."

Harry tried to speak, and Icy shushed him. "Wait five minutes, and then stick out that wand of yours. Oh, and pick up a newspaper, wherever you end up. See if you can recognize me," she smirked, and walked away, Sirius trotting along after stealing one last glance at his godson.

"You talked to him! That wasn't at all what we had planned!"

"I changed the plan, didn't you get the memo- Oh wait... It's me who reads your mind, not the other way around," Icy took the mandrake leaf that she'd acquired and shoved it behind her tongue. It was relatively small, and luckily allowed her enough room to talk.

"That was dangerous," Sirius said angrily. "You could have been captured. And it would have been my fault!"

"Harry wouldn't have let anyone take me away, Black. I charmed him well. And I'm a convict," Icy continued to converse with the man as the walked a trail through a forest in Scotland.

"That was putting your life in danger, Icy," Sirius told her. "Just stick to what we've planned next time, please?"

"Certainly. But if I change the plan again-"

"I can be the one who keeps track of it this time," he said sternly, and Icy smiled.

"Alright. So when will we be in Hogsmeade?" the young witch kept walking impatiently. She wanted a wand, and for Sirius to have a wand as well. And that wasn't happening on a path in the middle of nowhere.

"Soon. Be patient, Ice. We're almost there," she could see the outline of the town in the distance, and it took all of her strength not to sprint in. "Stick to what we've planned this time."

"I have a different plan, actually. I'm going to run down, disarm someone, and then I'll have a wand for you, then I'll do the same for me. See, perfect!"

"That's too dangerous, Icy," he said.

"What's life without a little risk," asked Icy, and Sirius smiled.

"Quoting me now, are you?" he laughed. "Fine. Go get some wands. Be safe."

"I promise I'll be safe... But I've heard that Honeydukes has some nice candy- and I haven't eaten in three days..."

"No! I'm going up to an old cave I used to camp in with my friends, and I'll catch some food," Icy cringed.

"What will we eat then, dead squirrel? I'll steal something from a pub. And then I'll meet you with the wands at this cave," Icy began to walk down the long hill, and then she shouted back up, "Please be safe, Sirius!"

"Ditto!" came the yell from her friend.