Noyade | Rabastan Lestrange [2] ✔︎

17 | MISSING

Phoenix had often read about a fire being ignited in a person's heart by a certain event. It was the sudden determination to do something or the passion for a specific thing, which suddenly surged through somebody's veins. That fire had always fascinated Phoenix. She had always longed for an adventure to make her feel the same way as the characters in her books, although she didn't even like things which she couldn't predict. Little did she know that an encounter with a late friend would cause her fire to be ignited.

Not having found Jack in his office, the girls had made their way to the library to inspect the book which Maureen had found before the Quidditch game. Maureen had ordered Phoenix to sit down at a table near the aisle in which she had found the apparently ancient piece of literature and was now running her fingers along the selves to find it.

The youngest Black ran her hand over her face. She had no idea how to bring up the subject of meeting Will in a vision. It seemed too important to just drop a comment about it, but at the same time looking for a fitting moment to pass Will's words on to her best friend could make her wait until it was too late to do it. He had put her in an impossible situation.

"Got it," Maureen exclaimed all of a sudden and pulled a book out of the shelf. Its weight made her bend her knees slightly to balance it, before she pulled the brown, shabby-looking cover against her chest and carried it over, only to throw it onto the wooden table.

When she started to flip through the pages, Phoenix asked sceptically, "How did you know it was representing, well, my powers?"

"It described certain abilities among other things and quite a lot of them matched yours, but there were more." Maureen smiled at her. "Just imagine if you could learn those things too. You might even be able to talk to people who passed away."

Phoenix froze, staring at her with widened eyes. "Talking to dead people?"

"Yes, it said that these people were able to summon souls in visions. Isn't that incredible?" Maureen explained excitedly. "Salazar's pants, where is it?"

Now or never.

"Maureen, wait." Phoenix placed a hand on her arm.

"Just wait a second, it has to be on the next few pages," the pink-haired girl protested.

The brunette, however, felt like she was about to explode if she didn't tell her about her vision. The moment was as good as it could get. She grabbed her hand again, almost hearing her heart beating in her chest. "No, it's important. Please just hold on a minute."

Maureen slowly lowered the page she was turning over and screwed her eyebrows together. "What is it?"

Phoenix had no idea how to tell her about her vision. She had never been good with words. Despite the considerable amount of books, she had read in her life, it had always been Sirius' gift out of the three siblings. It was stupid that her hands started to sweat and she had to wipe them on her black trousers when she was talking to her best friend, but she didn't want to do this the wrong way. There was still the possibility of Maureen getting pulled back into her grief. She swallowed and murmured, "I think I have that power already."

"What?" Maureen asked, leaning in closer to her.

"The thing you said about being able to talk to the souls of the dead." She paused and bit her lip. "Will appeared in a vision while I was unconscious."

To her surprise Maureen didn't seem weirded out by the received information. It seemed like she saw it as totally normal for her best friend to talk to her deceased boyfriend while unconscious. She lowered her eyes, however, brushing her hand over the old paper of the book in front of her. Phoenix felt a feeling of warmth envelop her, as if the pink-haired girl was thinking about something that brought her joy. After a few seconds she looked back up at her again and inquired with a low voice, "Did he say anything?"

Offering her a sympathetic smile, Phoenix nodded. "Yes, he wanted me to tell you that he loves you, but at the same time you shouldn't feel bad to move on. He doesn't want you to cry anymore."

"That's something he would say," Maureen breathed, a sad smile tugging up the corners of her mouth. "He always thought about everyone else first. The world was too good for him. Maybe destiny was right to spare him from all the hate that's out there right now."

"Maybe," Phoenix agreed, squeezing her hand. "Are you okay?"

Maureen nodded and squeezed back. "I'm getting there. I just really miss him."

"We all do and he misses us too," Phoenix assured her. There was no doubt Maureen was telling the truth. A few months ago she would have broken out in tears at the mention of his name, but now she could direct her thoughts towards happy memories instead. Perhaps time really did heal some wounds, even if they would leave scars after all.

Clearing her voice, the pink-haired girl slapped her hands onto the book. "All this emotional talk makes me want to throw up. We have work to do."

Phoenix couldn't help but chuckle at her statement. She leaned onto her elbows to catch a peek at what was written in old script, however, Maureen was turning the pages so quickly that it was difficult for her to decipher the upside-down words. It was about in the middle of the book when Maureen stopped and stared at the open pages.

Phoenix leaned further towards her and turned her head. "Elves? I thought we figured out that my powers are not the ones of Dawn's kind."

"They are not," Maureen agreed, looking up at her with narrowed eyes. "Who was in the Common Room when I told you about what I had found in here?"

"What? What does that have to do with anything?" Phoenix asked, leaning back and giving her a questioning look.

Maureen pointed at the book her voice sounding furious when she answered, "Someone ripped the bloody page out!"

I know it's been a while, but school is really keeping me busy with my final exams coming up in two weeks. (Merlin, that's insane!) Nonetheless, I had a moment of inspiration last Friday and wrote two chapters in the timespan of a few hours - this one being one of them. For once I can guarantee that you won't have to wait long - until Wednesday to be precise - for the next chapter.

Also, am I the only one who freaking loves Maureen and Phoenix' (Phoereen? Maunix?) friendship? But I'd really love to get Dawn back into the story asap as well.

Don't hesitate to tell me what you think. I alway love talking to you guys.