Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
'you sleep coiled; tightly wound.
hands are fists beneath pillows,
clenched above cotton sheets.
you are at war, even in your dreams.'
[p.d vulpe]
><><
It was dusk when they apparated to Bill and Fleur's place. Addie didn't know what to expect, exactly, since Ron hadn't gone into detail about where they lived, so the last thing Addie expected was the powdery ground beneath her feet and what looked like an endless blue lake that met the horizon.
The air was cool but warm, and it felt a bit sticky as it blew her hair around. The water was tinted a soft pink from the setting sun. Addie watched in awe as the gentle tide pulled in and out, in and out, like it was breathing with her. She'd never seen any landscape like this before. Had places like this really been out there this whole time? What else hadn't she seen?
"That's the ocean," Harry said beside her, studying the way she tried to take everything in, memorising it all. He'd almost forgotten how little she'd seen of the world. Her whole life she'd been confined to an underwater house, unaware of even what the sky looked like above the murky surface. It only really occurred to him now that that's why she was so fascinated with every little thing, from the night sky to the soft grass around the Hogwarts grounds. She was new to it all. She was seeing everything with a fresh gaze.
And he was there to experience it with her.
"And this?" she motioned to the ground.
He smiled. "Sand."
"Sand..." Addie repeated. Then she was kneeling in it. Cupping it in her hands. Scrunching it in her palms to understand the grainy texture. Laughing in delight as she pushed her hands into the sand, burying them.
Harry left her side for a moment, but she didn't really notice. After all, there was this whole part of the world she'd never known about, and everything needed to be explored. Even amidst the tide, the waves, the grassy dunes, the rock pools, the small cottage Ron and Hermione were walking towards, this little portion of sand was what captivated her.
Then, a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Let's go say hi," Harry said, and she looked up to see two figures greeting Ron and Hermione at the door of the cottage.
She stood, brushing the sand off her pants. As they stepped toward the home, Harry reached for her sandy hand, and slipped something into her hold. Addie looked down. In her palm was a little colourful...thing. It was almost like a cross between rock and glass. Fragile but textured. One side was bumpy and pink, and the other side was smooth with splotches of purple.
