If a Tree Falls... Does It Make a Sound?
“Sebastian.” Odelia’s voice was low and firm, holding the boy’s arm in the way which one might handle a venomous snake. One wrong move and it would bite. Adelaide shrank back under the intensity of his glare.
Garreth stepped forward to reassure him. Of what? It was obvious, to Adelaide at least, that Odelia’s eyes never wandered over to the Gryffindor table. They stayed fixed on one or the other of her Slytherin companions, occasionally darting up to the High Table. And whenever they met Adelaide’s, the emotion - the life - behind them was enough to put stars in her eyes.
Knock her unconscious like Odelia had been.
One moment it was over, the explosion contained. The next, the staircase was rocked by the force of Sebastian’s curse, hitting Leander squarely in the chest.
Adelaide screamed. She stumbled and fell hard on the cold stone step, red flashes burning away all other colours. A muffled grunt of pain sounded as Garreth landed next to her.
The initial blast cleared. Sebastian stood before her, wand arm held up high above his head, hair wild but mouth set in cruel determination. And at the end of his wand -
she gasped in horror
- at the end of his wand was Leander, suspended in mid-air and twisting in slow motion while pinpricks of that same red light erupted across his skin. A toy powerless against the uncontrolled emotions of a child.
What kind of curse does that?
Sebastian moved closer, his victim contorting in agony. Leander’s wand lay discarded on the step. Without even deigning to look down, Sebastian kicked it away and it clattered to the bottom of the stairwell, landing beside a crumpled pile of school robes and chestnut waves.
Again, Adelaide screamed. But this time no sound came out.
A blur of red hair and Gryffindor tie shot past her, tackling Sebastian and shoving him into the wall. Portraits shrieked as their frames were knocked off their pegs. The two boys grappled, spells forgotten.
Odelia lay unmoving where she had fallen. Adelaide made to get up, to run to her, when a heavy weight landed right on her knees, limp as a corpse. Leander. His head lolled towards her - eyes rolling up into his skull, showing only the whites. The sight made her head spin.
Garreth managed to wrench the wand away from Sebastian, and threw it out of their reach. He was bigger, he should have been stronger, but Adelaide watched - helpless - as Sebastian pulled Garreth’s fists further and further away from their targets. As gently as possible, she pushed Leander off her and began to crawl towards Sebastian’s wand.
It was curiously notched, she noted as she inched down the steps, dragging herself by her elbows. It looked as though it had taken many blows over the years - despite remaining unbroken its shape was changed forever.
She stretched out a hand, fingertips just brushing but coming back empty.
A dull thump sounded from behind. In spite of herself, Adelaide turned to look. Sebastian had slammed Garreth into the stone and let him drop, lifeless, to his knees. He raised his head and for a second locked eyes with her. Then his gaze moved past and settled on the wand.
Terror seized her. She reached for the wand again, scrabbling forward the last few inches. She could sense him coming closer. She grabbed the wand.
Rolling onto her back, Adelaide raised Sebastian’s own wand against him. It started to shake in her hand. He stopped, less than an arms-length away and opened his mouth as if to say something. Then it shut, his expression shifted back to one of fury. Slowly, deliberately, he took the last step forward.
I think he might kill me.
Running footsteps sounded above them and Professors Weasley and Sharp appeared in the passageway they had just left - the one with the one-eyed witch. Thick cords shot from their wands, bound Sebastian, and immobilised him at her feet.
-----------------------
Later, Adelaide sat crying on the same step that Odelia had been pushed off of, arms hugging her knees, shaking. The professors had together managed the whole scene. Professor Weasley dealt with Sebastian. Conjuring a stretcher beneath his prone body, she levitated him up and down a side passage leading off from the staircase. Adelaide could have sworn it was not there before. Professor Sharp approached Odelias fallen body. Kneeling down, he smoothed the hair out of her face then carefully gathered her up in his arms and followed the others.
It was all very efficient - no traces left behind. Except Adelaide of course, but no one would remember to ask her anyway. She was little more than a pleasant accompaniment to everyone’s bright tunes.
Can an accompaniment exist on its own? She didn’t think so.
And Odelia’s tune was the brightest of all.
-----------------------
Garreth came and took a seat beside her, his shirt untucked and torn, red patches on the side of his neck. He checked to see that she was unhurt, and put a comforting arm around her. They sat in silence until the salt dried in lines down her cheeks. It was still dark, the castle still soundless, but with that peculiar hush that accompanies the forgotten hours of the morning.
“I’m really sorry that you got caught up in that.”
Adelaide looked up at the boy with wide eyes, finding his gaze to be steadily fixed on the wall. “You say it like this has happened before.”
“No,” he conceded grimly, “but we all know what Sebastian is like. Sooner or later he was going to lose it.”
His copper mane was as usual a wild mess, and all at once Adelaide realised why the mascot of Gryffindor was a lion.
“Well, all of us apart from the Slytherins,” he added. “Your friend most of all.”
“Delly’s your friend too, Garreth.” Her voice sounded piteous even to her own ears.
He shook his head. “I doubt she can be now. Anyway, let’s get you back to your common room, eh?”
Someone poked Adelaide’s shoulder. She turned away from Garreth and saw Odelia sitting on her other side, as real as if she were actually there.
Her clever eyes narrowed. "You should stop allowing people to treat you as if you were helpless.”
Another sob built up in Adelaide's throat. “I know, but…”
“Yes?”
“This is just how it is.”
“It doesn’t have to be.”
“Addie?” Garreth was watching her, concerned. “Shall we go?”
For a moment Odelia’s words played back through her mind. But then she accepted his proffered arm with a faint smile, and let him lead her away.
-----------------------
It was only after Transfiguration had ended the next morning that Adelaide got a chance to talk to Odelia. Sebastian had ignored her for the entire class, even when they were told to work on transforming their barn owls in pairs. Adelaides’ hooted miserably as she tried on her own and again failed. Professor Weasley watched but did not interfere, and she breathed a silent sigh of relief.
Garreth had found her during breakfast, and quickly pulled her to the side. They hid just outside the doors leading to the gardens as he informed her that he had followed Professor Weasley to the Headmaster’s study, and learnt that Professor Black would not take any action. “Unsurprising,” he said scornfully, “that he would ignore the behaviour of a Slytherin, even if it was his own niece who got hurt.” Adelaide wasn’t sure how well Odelia got along with her uncle, but she kept quiet.
Odelia was laughing as she hugged Sebastian, her face lit up with that same delight as at the beginning of one of their ‘adventures’. Adelaide remembered the strong clasp of her hands as she dragged them along the bridge and down to the shore. And how her brightness had driven away even the chill of the lake.
It’s not right, she decided. That you should want to be with someone who treats you so bad. You should stay with me - I never would.