Augury [Harry Potter Fanfic]

h. four

Kreacher was quite busy polishing Sawyer's silver ring when the door was slammed open, making the house elf- and Sawyer- jump in fright. Her heart was practically beating out of her chest in that moment, and all she saw was the little girl watching her father as he stumbled into the house, bloody hands wrapping around her throat, squeezing--

Sawyer let out a choked whimper, praying  to Heavens above her it would be over quick, that the arms that used to hold her as a child would be gracious enough to do it as painlessly as possible.

"-Sawyer!" A pair of arms shook her roughly, making her eyes lose focus of the dark room, light blinding her suddenly. "Sawyer, hey, I--"

She apparated a few feet back, out of the pure instinct to get away from the threat in front of her, and she found herself staring wide eyed at Remus Lupin's brown eyes, fear so raw his heart clenched, tears glimmering in her eyes as her hand wrapped softly around her throat, shaky breaths slowly soothed back to normal.

Kreacher appeared by her side with a loud crack, tea with two teaspoons of sugar clenched in his shaky hands, and he offered it to her. Accepting it graciously, she thanked him, allowing the warmth of the cup to soothe her as Kreacher hovered by.

"Sawyer," Remus uttered out eventually, making the girl raise her bright eyes to him.

"Hello sir," she shakily managed.

He looked at her, hesitant, before shutting his mouth and re-opening it, no sound coming out for a second. "Charlie's here. Said he wants to talk to you before heading back to Romania."

"Sure, thanks," she mumbled, apparating to the living room, where Charlie was indeed waiting, speaking casually with his older brother.

"Heyo Sawyer," Bill greeted, making Charlie turn in his seat.

"What's up Eggplant?" Charlie joked at the girl, who rolled her eyes with a tight smile, setting down the tea that survived the apparation.

"Said the carrot."

The two red heads laughed, and quite hastily, Charlie stood up, looking more nervous than Sawyer's ever seen him, but, to be honest, Charlie was quite the chilled person, so even as little nervous as he was, seemed bizarre to Sawyer.

"Uh, care if we head up to your room, or something?"

"Oh, sure," she grinned. "Come on, I'm upstairs."

The two climbed upstairs, passing Remus who barely glanced at her. She thickly swallowed the suddenly bitter saliva in her mouth.

"It isn't getting better, huh?" Charlie asked as he shut the door behind them as they entered the bedroom.

"Worse," she sighed, dark bags standing out of her pale face.

"More dreams?"

"And more vision while I'm awake. Anything can trigger them now, the door slamming open too loud made me think I'm a five years old from Poland getting murdered by her father."

Charlie just looked at her for a moment, before wrapping his arms around her body. She's lost weight since he's last seen her, and she seemed more tired than ever. And much more sad.

"So what's going on with the Remus situation?"

She grinned, "it all good," she assured, but the sniffle was unavoidable as her eyes filled with tears. Her arms wrapped around him in return at last, and she buried her face in his chest, barely breathing and barely uttering out "how come he don't want me no more?"

::

The atmosphere around the dinner table was quite tense, and for no clear reason. No one seemed to be able to smile easily, not even Fred and George, who sat either side of Sawyer. Cedric was looking especially gloomy at Fred's side.

"So Harry will arrive tomorrow, I hope you're all aware," Molly spoke up at last.

"Whoop whoop," George cheered lowly.

"What was that, George?" Arthur wondered, not hearing it clearly.

"Just said he's excited for it," Fred mumbled.

"Boys, stop muttering under your breath. We can't hear you," Molly huffed as she cut the meat on her plate.

"Honestly, what's with everyone looking so down?" Tonks suddenly exploded. "I'm sick of everyone moping around," she stood up, taking her dishes to the kitchen, before leaving aburptly.

"What was that?" Bill wondered.

"That was Tonks saying what we all wanted to say. What's going on? Why are we all so frustrated?"

"Because we're in a bloody war, good morning sunshine." Mundungus raised an eyebrow at the way Sawyer was speaking to him. "What do you expect us to do? Wave the fact that half of you will be dead and hurt in less than three years?"

Everyone stopped.

Even Ron didn't take the bite that was half-way to his mouth.

"Why don't you tell us exactly who will die and when, Sawyer? Go ahead," Remus spoke calmly.

She stared at him, mouth slightly open.

"It's a way of speaking, you know," Hermione spoke up, staring at Sawyer for a short moment and realizing she was at loss. "You can't tell who will die and when," she scoffed, standing up. "Thanks for the meal Mrs. Weasley. I'll be in my room."

Sawyer looked at Remus for a moment more in silence, Sirius shaking his head at Remus. Remus looked between his best friend and his daughter.

Something in Sawyer's eyes broke Remus' heart. More than ever, those last days she was his little girl, the one that cried in his arms, not knowing who would ever care for her. Has he not promised that he would, forever?

His little girl who needed her father, the one he was- not the one Sirius was attempting to be despite the truth he knew, and despite knowing her so little.

But that was the reason Remus was so upset with her in the first place, she shut him out and ran off when he needed her to be there- when he needed her to be as open as she never was.

He was about to request her to speak with him in private, but before he could even, Kreacher appeared next to her, and the two disappeared off.

"Hey! He's my house-elf before he's yours!" Sirius huffed out, to everyone's dismay. Remus scowled at him. "Well, I mean... She... What?"

Remus shook his head, standing up and starting to climb up to Regulus'- Sawyer's- room, and hesitating before reaching for the door's handle.

He knocked softly, and when no reply came, he sighed. "I'm coming in," he announced, opening the door quietly, coming to face an empty room.

Her small backpack was gone, but her suitcase was still there, mostly full. Remus frowned as he walked around the room. Next to her bed was a sketch-book filled with drawings of Meeko, and a single page of the same words again and again.

Not them.

He didn't know who them referred to, or what mustn't happen to them, but with Sawyer the idea that popped to his head was quite dark.

She was a kid, he reminded himself. She was his kid. And he had to ignore the fact she pushed him off for so long, because she obviously needed someone- the lonesome feeling he's gotten in the room made his heart ache for her. She was all alone, with something that she wasn't ready for- what had she seen when he opened the door?

No vision had ever scared her before, and he couldn't fathom why this one had her trembling.

But for now, she was gone again.

And he could only hope she'd be back soon, hoping she could only go so long with whatever was in her backpack.

He just prayed no one would harm her, and that she would not do anything dumb.

Well, she was a Black, so maybe there was no way around that one.