Save Me

A Fresh Start

It's been 3 weeks since I first arrived at Poppy's house. Ominis had also been sending me letters making sure I was keeping my promise to take care of myself and had even asked Poppy if I was. Over the weeks Poppy helped to distract my mind by introducing me to her animals and having me help her with chores.

The second week of my stay Poppy introduced me to a herd of feral horses that would wander around her grandmothers property. Their was a particular horse that stuck out to me, he had a dark gray coat and a beautiful white mane with blue eyes. I often watched him roam the area freely admiring his beauty.

The 5th day of the of the 2nd week I approached the horse. As I cautiously stepped towards the horse it's full attention turned to me, almost as if it could sense the pain I was in it nuzzled it's head into me letting me pet him freely. It was an instant connection that would only build.

Storm (which I eventually called him) brought happiness to my life for the first time since I had lost Fig and Sebastian. Everyday without fail I would sit against an old tree and read, everyone Storm would come and lay his head on my lap while I read aloud. It was a good refresher and I would fall into a peaceful sleep. Storm was like a lifeline, always there for me when I needed help. It was as though someone was looking out for me. I felt safe.

The 4th week of my stay Storm allowed me to go on rides with him. Poppy would join in and we would race together, it was fun to say the least. During our rides I could tell she was happy to have a part of me back. There would be times that I would see something that reminded me of Sebastian or Professor Fig and I would completely lose control of the ancient magic. Blue or purple light would spew from my hands engulfing my entire body and taking control of everything I would do. Poppy unfortunately had been with me one day when this happened and immediately contacted Nurse Blainey as well as Ominis.

The next day Nurse Blainey arrived at 6:00 in the morning. She had bombarded me with questions and was shocked but relieved when she saw some of my personality was back. Ominis showed up 30 minutes later and sat next to me as Nurse Blainey examined me. She had left the room to grab something leaving an opening for Ominis and I to catch up.
"I'm sorry you had to come." His eyes  shot to the direction that my voice came from looking confused.
"What do you mean? I'd rather be anywhere else than with my family. In fact, this is actually a good improvement to my summer." He looked at me with a smile, taking my hands into his and running small circles into the back of them.

I shivered feeling his warm hands against my cold ones, comforted by his touch. Relishing the moment and comfort I decided to make it better. I hugged him tightly thankful that he was always there for me. When I let go I was surprised to see that Ominis' ears were a bright red and he quickly looked away in embarrassment.

Nurse Blainey walked in a moment later not giving me a chance to interrogate Ominis for his strange behavior.
"Miss Sterling, I would like you to take these whenever you are feeling stressed." She paused handing me a bag of several identical potions.
"Of course." I replied nicely. Seemingly pleased Nurse Blainey left saying her farewells asking Poppy and Ominis to update her if anything happens.

With Nurse Blainey gone Poppy had asked her grandmother if Ominis could stay a few days and she graciously agreed. She prepared the guest bedroom making sure it was alright if I shared the room with her instead. While Poppy was preparing the room Ominis and I talked outside sitting in the shade of the tree. During our conversation Storm came up to us laying his head on my lap huffing at Ominis. Laughing I voiced a question that had been in the back of my mind for ages.

"Do you think he deserved it?" Your voice was barely audible, barely a breath.
"What?" He turned his face towards me and grabbed my hand.
"Sebastian... do you think he deserved it. Going to Azkaban?" My voice wavered, holding back a sob.
"I'm- I'm not sure. We tried to stop him from falling to deep into the dark arts but he didn't, I miss him terribly." A tear fell down his face but he continued.
"But, he has to face the consequences to his actions." He concluded. I wiped some tears from his face before muttering something.
"R-right sorry. I shouldn't have brought up such a sensitive topic."

Without responding he brought me into a warm embrace combing his fingers through my hair and placing a light kiss on my forehead. I immediately melted into his embrace and we sat there comforting each other, though he was far better at it. We didn't keep track of the time we had stayed there but we fell asleep holding each other, letting our minds drift into a happy dream.

When we woke up it was because of Poppy. Ominis awoke first, hearing the girls loud giggles, he shook me awake and I could see how red his face was, closely resembling a tomato. It was funny considering how pale he normally was but I let go of him breaking the embrace petting Storm instead. Ominis quickly got up excusing himself to the guest room.

The next week I was anxious when a formal white owl handed me a letter from the Ministry of Magic. Could it be about Sebastian? Holding the letter my hands began to shake, blood draining from my face. I could feel something trying to take over me in my moment of weakness and I saw purple light emanating from my hands. I could feel the power surging through me and I felt as if I had no control of what I was doing. Seconds later a lightning storm appeared. I knew this was my ancient magic, but something about this time felt different, the power was engulfing me telling me to use it. And so I did.

The storm got worse and the magic shot out of my hands destroying some nearby trees. I was scared. Of myself. Looking at the letter my power disintegrated it and a loud boom came from all around. I could barely see my surroundings most of my vision being clouded from the purple light. I could hear faint footsteps coming towards me but I didn't care.
"Ainsley! You need to calm down!" The voice traveled through the wind surprisingly not getting lost on its way to me.

With one final strike something exploded next to me and the storm stopped, with me flying backwards hitting the hard ground nearly knocking me out. I crawled onto my knees gasping for breath, watching a shadowed figure run closer to me. My head was ringing and I felt incredibly dizzy not realizing the figure was directly beside me. Poppy looked at me her eyes wide with shock and worry. I could feel my vision going out but I didn't collapse until I heard her voice.
"Ainsley, your eyes... they're glowing!" And with that I collapsed losing all consciousness.

Ominis POV

It had been a week and a half, I had been keeping track hoping each day would be the day that she woke up. I was thankful for my lack of sight in this moment. Not being able to see her scream out in fear from a dream she couldn't get out of. A few days ago the staff at St. Mungos told Poppy and I that they would be doing fewer check-ins saying they had to let nature take its course and she would eventually wake up.

Each day her screams would get worse, reminding me of the way Anne was when she had gotten spouts of pain. I hadn't left St. Mungos since Ainsley has been checked in, and it showed. My usually slicked back hair was a mess, strands sticking out left to right. Seeing Poppy arrive I quickly left to the restroom making myself more presentable than I had been. While I was in the restroom I saw that Poppy had left to speak with the nurses. I took a seat on a stool next to Ainsley, my face dropping when I heard her scream.

Not knowing what to do I grabbed her pulling her towards me my hands brushing through her knotted hair. I held her head against me kissing her forehead and shushing her. I was shocked when she stopped screaming and instead took a sharp breath, her face looking up at me.

I could feel her stare at me and look around. My heart sinking when she squirmed out of my grasp and speaking.
"Who are you?" Her voice was squeaky and shaking.
"What!?" She jumped back at my loud tone edging further away from me.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. But I'm Ominis, your best friend?" I said the last sentence as a question, hoping she would remember.
"I don't know who you are. I'm sorry."

Poppy ran in seeing through the glass of the other room that Ainsley had woken up. The nurses followed soon after and you got really concerned when she didn't know who Poppy was either.

I don't think this was the fresh start Ainsley had been wanting.