VITA ET MORTE I HARRY POTTER I Up For Adoption

s o m e t h i n g l o s t

When her eyes sluggishly opened, they were assaulted with a horrid burning sensation similar to the feeling of boiling them in a vat of hot grease. Being in eternal darkness caused one's eyes to be sensitive to any and all forms of light, even the dim moonlight that barely lit the patch of what seemed to be lifeless grass she was laying on. When the burning finally faded, she squinted her eyes open to the sight of tiny lights painted onto a black canvas above her. The small lights twinkled almost as if they were winking at her which only caused her to become more intrigued.

With great difficulty, she lifted her arm out in front of her so that it aligned with the lights above her. The skin of the arm in front of her was a milky white, creating a striking contrast to the dark sky above her. Faintly, she could smell what seemed like burnt hair and with what seemed to be all of her energy, she sat up and analyzed the ground around her. The grass crunched under her fingertips and was a dead, brown color.

Her eyes swept the perimeter of what seemed to be a wide clearing and her eyes noticed places where the ground became sunken and it looked as if it was in a particular pattern. With a large breath, she hauled herself onto her feet and could now see clearly the scorched markings in the grass. She stood in the center of what seemed to be a circle with several swirling patterns inside of it.

When she looked down at herself, she discovered that she was completely naked, clothed in nothing but her flesh. Her pale arms wrapped around her fragile body as if she trying to hold herself together with sheer determination. Her mind became filled with nothing but questions such as, who was she? What was her name? Why was she naked? What the hell were these weird ass markings that surrounded her? What was her hair color!?

The sound of hurried footsteps shattered the stream of questions and her head whipped behind her where there seemed to be several approaching figures coming from deep within the forest. A man dressed in all black attire burst out of the foliage in front of her with a wooden stick (that had a glowing light on the end, which just made the whole situation even stranger) pointed directly at her. Another man came from the foliage but he had on what looked like hot pink robes with weird spiral patterns embroidered on them and a long white beard; his wooden stick was pointed at the ground. The last person to clamber through the foliage was an older woman with dark purple robes and a pair of spectacles perched on her nose.

The man in all black took a step toward her and the abrupt movement caused her to flinch backwards away from the man whose face was now cast in moonlight. He had a long hooked nose and black eyes which were cold and distant. There was a sneer implanted on his face as if it was his permanent facial expression and it made her mind burn with curiosity. The light from the tip of the stick in his hand grew brighter, illuminating the alabaster white skin of the hand holding it.

"Severus, put that down, there is no need for such violence. I'm sure the girl can explain herself without you pointing your wand at her throat," the older woman spoke in a strict tone causing the naked girl to glance at her for a brief moment before focusing once again on the man who was slowly lowering his wand. She kept a wary eye on the all-in-black man, even as the the bearded one approached her slowly with his hands out in front of him.

"We mean you no harm, here, I am just going to..." the elderly man slowly lent down and picked a few leaves off the ground. He waved his wand around each leaf and muttered some sort of incantation under his breath. One by one, each leaf turned into an article of clothing, and when they were completely transformed he wove his wand once more and the new clothes seemed to levitate into her arms.

Quickly she took them from the air in front of her and turned her back to the three, changing into them quickly and turning back to them in a matter of seconds, not wanting to be in a vulnerable position for too long.