I Will Follow You Into the Dark

There was something about the sun rise that caused a person to feel lifted from the troubled world that surrounded them. The peace that consumed a weathered and tired body felt as if it refreshed the soul within and replenished a calm that went missing when the storm came. Words couldn’t describe the inner beauty one feels, even if it’s just for just a moment, and most wouldn’t be able to comprehend the outer weight lifted from one’s shoulders. It was as if God was blessing those who rose early enough to witness his grand creation with the ability to momentarily forget their troubles.

Svetlanna loved that feeling.

“Rien ne dure éternellement,” (Nothing lasts forever.) she whispered after savoring the slowly fading mood. None of her other roommates were awake, which gave her as much time as she wanted in the dorms shower room for herself. Once she gathered her clothes, Svetlanna made her way to the bathroom and locked the door behind her.

After she had started the shower, she waited for it to warm by looking over herself in the mirror. On good days she found a small glow cover every inch of her skin, but on bad days her features were flushed out by the dull mood she felt inside. Svetlanna discovered that she was indeed starting off a good day. While she undressed her tiny body, Svetlanna tried to ignore the red slashes across her abused skin and the words she carved dangerously deep. A shivered she could not suppress racked through her body and she forced herself to look away from her mistakes.

Her shower was fast, for her skin tingled miserably as the water washed over the battered areas on her body. Hurriedly, she finished her business in the bathroom and walked out of the room completely to feed the angry organ she had ignored since she awoke just three hours before.

No one was in the common room as she passed and the Great Hall only held several people from each house and a larger group of visitors from other schools. She watched as a majority of the small population crowded around the small goblet as boys and only a handful of girls put their names into the mystic item.

“’Ou look very lonely,” a French accent spoke from behind Svetlanna, causing the young girl to jump in surprise.

Svetlanna looked back and into the dark green eyes of an extremely attractive brunette boy. From his uniform it was obvious he was from Beauxbaton, and from his quiet demeanor and lack of a pose Svetlanna knew he was either shy by nature or just a loner by choice.

For that reason she was drawn to him.

“Oh, I’m fine,” Svetlanna smiled; she was tempted to look down at the small portion of breakfast she had grabbed, but she thought back to the day before and kept her eyes locked with the new boy. Slowly, she lifted her arm and held out her hand for him to shake, “I’m Svetlanna Bellamy.”

“A Bellamy you say?” the Beauxbaton boy muttered with a small smile gracing his heavenly features, “I’m Maxime David; my father is Yvon David, ‘e ‘as worked many times with your father on private cases.”

Svetlanna smiled, “My father tends to not mention work at home unless either involves my family or is too humorous to withhold from us. He feels as if the less we know, the better protected we are from what’s going on around us, or that’s what I like to believe.”

Maxime nodded and he was about to open his mouth to say something else but a loud voice came from beside him and his was being pulled away almost at once by a rapidly talking blonde girl. As he was dragged away, he tossed an apologetic look in Svetlanna’s direction; which she waved off with a small smile.

When he left her view, Svetlanna turned back to her food items and began to nibble a bit on her toast. Suddenly a rush of red fell to her side and a pair of questioning blue eyes were looking at the side of her head. Smiling once again, Lanna turned to face her gingered friend and pulled him into a one armed hug, “Good morning my little ginger.”

Ron hugged his best-friend back without hesitation and began to pile his plate high with food. Hermione and Harry came seconds after, both talking hushed. Svetlanna was able to catch a few words and understood at once that they were talking about Harry’s scar burning once more.

“I agree, Harry,” Svetlanna whispered, looking around to see if Leonardo was flying toward her. Once she found no signs of her beloved owl, she looked back at her green eyed friend and gave him her best worried look, “If you tell Dumbledore about your scar, he could help.”

“It’s fine,” Harry practically yelled at both Hermione and Svetlanna, “I don’t feel anything.”

“Then why do you constantly rub it?” Ron questioned, his mouth full of food and more in his hands just waiting to join the rest.

“Not you too, Ron,” Harry whined with narrowed eyes

“You’re our friend, Harry, whether you like it or not,” Hermione whispered in a hysteric tone, “and we have a right to be worried about you.”

“And I have a right to my own privacy,” his tone signaled the conversation was over and the group ate in silence until Leonardo came landing in the middle of Lanna’s empty plate. She smiled loving at her tiny owl and held her palm out for him to jump onto. Gingerly, she took off letters from both her parents and a good family friend. When Svetlanna read where her father’s letter was from she frowned and looked at Leonardo with love and sympathy.

“Mon pauvre grand-chose Leonardo, vous devez être affamés,” (my dear little Leonardo, you must be starving.) she cooed, rubbing a sweet spot close to his beak that always soothed the fairly young bird. Leonardo chirped cheerfully at the affection, but moved away to help himself to some of Ron’s food, much to his distain.

Svetlanna put her letters to the side, and was beginning to start a conversation with Hermione when a much larger and dangerous looking bird landed right on her lap. She stared wide eyed as the large hawk seemed to glare into her brown eyes.

“What in blooming hell is that?” Ron stuttered from Svetlanna’s side, inching away from the said girl.

Hermione stared at it and then at the small package on his leg, “Well, obviously he’s someone’s pet. For goodness sake, Ron, he’s not going to hurt you.”

“How do you know?” Ron questioned with narrowed eyes, “you said that about Crookshanks .”

As the two got into another argument, Harry nodded at Svetlanna, “I think it’s for you if it’s in your lap.”

“Are you sure?” she questioned, not fully sure the large bird was in its right mind for she knew no one with such an odd choice in delivery, “I’ve never seen this before.”

Shaking her head, Svetlanna took the package from the hawk and read that it was indeed meant for her. With shaking hands, she pet the large creature and gave him a small piece of bacon from the center of the table as a gift. Her hands were still shaking as she opened the package, and the moment she did mist rose from within and spelled out an enchanting message in front of her vary eyes.

Svetlanna, my young beauty,

I am a bit disappointed that I wasn’t able to spend time with you yesterday; however, next week I plan on making up for lost time. As an apology for not asking you sooner, I found the only gift I deemed worthy of your beauty in Hogsmeade. Please, accept it as a gift from good friend trying hard to impress such a magnificent being as you instead of a pathetic attempt at bribery.

Until next time,
Alik Volsky

Svetlanna was blushing as she continued to open the package. Inside, she gasped when she saw the most beautiful necklace she had ever been given. The silver ‘S’ was shined to perfection and Svetlanna knew that it took a lot of money and time to buy such a precious item as that.

“Oh my!” Hermione sighed from in front of her

“That must have cost him at least twenty galleons,” Ron muttered, spitting out tiny particles of the remainder of the food in his mouth.

Svetlanna nodded and stood from her place at the table, “I can’t accept this.” She grabbed her parents’ letters and rushed out of the Great Hall to search for Alik and return his gift. Never had she been given such an expensive gift, and getting one from a boy who barely knew a thing about her was just too much to handle.

After a little more than half an hour, Svetlanna found Alik laughing with three other, much more intimidating Durmstrang boys. She slowed her pace a bit, but continued toward the attractive boy who she had searched for.

Alik felt her eyes on him as she drew closer and turned his head to face Svetlanna with a charming smile, “Good afternoon, Svetlanna.” He took in her appearance and his smile widened when he noticed the large glow radiating from her body. Looking at his friends, they allowed him the privacy and he walked closer to the girl who caught his eye, “did you receive my gift to you, then?”

“Yes, I have,” Svetlanna confirmed but shook her head, “but I simply cannot accept something as expensive as this.”

“Oh, why not,” Alik pressed gently, his smile still in place, “you deserve the best.”

“This is much better than the best. I don’t want you wasting gold on me, for its not something to waste idly.”

“I have more, I can spare a thirty galleons.”

Svetlanna shook her head, “Thirty galleons, are you mad?” –she shook her head and held up the small necklaces- “I’m not worth that much to you. Trust me.”

“You are right,” Alik took the necklace away and walked behind Svetlanna to place it around her neck, “you’re worth so much more.” He moved her hair to fasten the silver item securely and kissed her bare neck before turning her around, “now, how do you feel about a stroll around the castle, just for a couple of hours?”

Her cheeks burned but she couldn’t stop herself from nodding.

Alik took her hand securely in his but he moment he made a move to walk toward the lake, something caught his eyes. He turned to face Svetlanna with worried eyes and examined her bare arms, “What happened here?”

Svetlanna cursed herself for not thinking enough to grab a jacket and shook her head, “I was clearing my head last week, and when I do that I tend to wander. Somehow, I ended up in the forbidden forest and tripped over a small rock and landed in a group of much larger, jagged rocks.”

Alik covered the marks with his cold hands and shook his head with a soft smile, “You must be more careful. If I am to spend more time with you, you have to be alive.”

“I can try.” And Svetlanna allowed Alik to hold her hand and lead her on a walk full of laughter and amusing personal tales that caused the teller to blush madly.

In passing, a certain ginger noticed the girl he had known since before puberty holding hands with a boy who hadn’t known her for barely three months. A twinge of jealously and anger shot through his body, but he didn’t act on it.

Instead, George continued on his way, thinking it was about time to test a new prank of a certain person.