Salvation

Prolouge

The blissfully hot summer holiday had ended, with a slow bleed into autumn , surrendering to the darkness of winter...of ice and frost , of snow and hail.

First came Ice.Like shards of a shattered mirror , icicles adorned the skeletons of gnarled trees , scattering calisascopic rays of light , each one sharper than the last.Like dangling , deadly , daggers , silver swords or killers knives.Poised and ready to slice through an oblivious victim below .Second came Frost,silently , slyly , sneakily .Infiltrating homes through exposed nooks and crannies , climbing up drainpipes .Snuffing out lingering flames , scratching at your door , leaving it's intricately patterned fingerprints against your window panes.Third came snow , heavy , pounding , relentless days of it.It began as dark , rumbling , thundering clouds , a thick blanket that blocked out the light and infected the rest of the sky until there was nothing but black.Then three days of endless white , exploding from the clouds .Clumps of wet flakes hammering down .Until it stuck , branches stooping low with the weight of it. Like hags .The blizzard harsh and punishing.The haunting howl slicing through sleep , shaking homes and distinguishing fireplaces.Wild , untamed nature.Leaving us imprisoned.Rifts of white slumped against doorways.A biting , stinging , blinding wind that screamed with hysteria.Then it stopped.

Giving away to deafening silence.

The world was white.And glittering , and new.Like a blank page , ready to have a story inked upon.

Untouched , undisturbed and beautiful...The sky had parted , the lingering blackness and the fresh white mist curved around each other , one never spilling into the other , except for two perfect circles at the head of each curve.Opposite ends , yet together they created one large symbolic circumference.Everything perfectly in balance.Two halves co existing.

Winter was finally here.Beckoning for me , Whispering ,Calling , Reaching...Teasing ....Snatching , Shouting ! , Thrashing ! Screaming -

I shot awake...the biting cold slithered away as my blue toes retreated under the safety of the covers ,  the whirling carousel of nightmares and dreams and - something in between here -there and random ideas tumbling into some order - a subtle awareness of who I am - where I am .Came under the broken flow of disjointed thoughts with their loose connections and entangled grogginess , until my eyes adjusted .Blinking away sleep rapidly , until the room came into shivering focus...

Pansy Parkinson's bedroom.

Four pieces of abused furniture cramped into one absurdly tiny room . Muggle Polaroid's collaged the jade green wall behind her dresser.Ones of younger me and her and us and Ebony and Pansy and her family.Some were faded , others vibrant and new.The only remaining evidence of our wild , intoxicated summer and  some of September spent in and around Pan's home town.Her anorexic wardrobe , half empty and regurgitating sickening bile yellows and snot green clothes all over her uncarpeted floor ...her wooden bookcase , one shelf slanted , with leather bound books stuffed into it until it brimmed and spilt out , piling up high in towers of pages and dust.Then finally the bed.Sheets that could've been a fresh mint green in their former life , now faded and stained , cast over the rusted metal frame , tangled around limbs and exposing its stuffing , kicked and stretched until it lay limp over a sleeping body.It looked like a bloody crime scene.

I Huddled under the warm covers , dressed in Pan's best , woolly green jumper. I glanced at my sleeping friend.Her childish black bob replaced with light brunette hair , tangled over her poor pillow.A light sprinkle of cute freckles across her flared nose and wide cheek bones.Short eyelashes fluttering as she slept , trapped in some deep slumber.My strappy red top crisscrossed over her broad shoulders and cut low over her generous bust.She snorted , like a piglet and rolled over , right into my lap...cuddling  into me before settling again.Her rosey cheek was warm against my pale thigh , hot breath tickling my knee.Giggling groggily , I skittered my black nails across her flat nose , causing her to startle and wake .