No.
Violet Potter didn't want to die like this. It was unfair. So, fucking unfair. A fiery surge of pain wrecked harshly through her frail body as she tried to gain a grip on her sanity. Where did it all go wrong? Merlin, they had a plan and it all but failed. They had it all planned out.
Air whipped past her as she fell deeper and deeper into the abyss. Was she ever going to stop falling? Or was this her fate? Her head was burning, and she felt her hands scratching at her lightning-bolt scar. She felt blood under her nails from the scratch she did herself. She shouldn't have helped Sirius. She should have stayed behind and maybe then he would be the one screaming.
Merlin, she was so fucking selfish.
Another bloodcurdling scream broke through from her pale lips. Make it stop, she raged through her mind, make it stop.
And then she quite literally burst into flames.
XXX
Violet felt warm.
She could feel a warm cloth being pressed against her forehead and wrapped bandages around her torso and legs. Her eyes felt heavy and she tried her hardest to open them.
A bright light invaded her view and she opened her mouth to speak, except for the fact that her throat felt unnaturally dry.
"Wa-wa...ter," she rasped out, grimacing at the sound of her own voice. She sounded like an old lady.
Soon the colour blue invaded her blurry vision. Blue was the eye-colour of the round-faced woman; whose brown strands of hair delicately framed her face. Violet could vaguely see a couple of dots on the woman's face but couldn't correctly identify what it was; was it freckles or moles? She wanted to know. Where were her fucking glasses when she really needed them?
A cool liquid flowed into her throat like a balm.
"You had quite a rough fall," commented the woman in a gentle voice with an accent. "Falling from the sky isn't what a teenager would normally do, is it?"
The sky? Violet was pretty sure she fell from the veil and most definitely not the sky. Unless, she managed to apparate out somehow, even though she hasn't even gone through the apparition lessons. Or maybe she just teleported.
"Where am I?" she asked roughly as she took in her surroundings. Grey stone walls stood, covered with all sorts of flowers, ranging from tiger-lilies to hydrangeas. What really took her by surprise, was the tiny mobile creatures she could vaguely. Tiny miniature tree-like creatures stood shyly behind the flowers.
"You're in my forest," answered the woman softly, "I found you nearby injured and I brought you in to treat you."
So, she was alive. Was that a good or bad thing? But where were her manners? She should thank the woman.
"Thank you for taking me in," she said with all the sincerity she could muster, which wasn't much, to say the least. She blanched at the sound of her own insincere voice.
"Ah, it was no problem, honestly," said the woman, "You looked pretty bad so I couldn't just leave you there."
She had a feeling the woman would have taken her in regardless of the severity of her injuries.
"What's your name?" Violet asked, eager to know the woman's name.
"Yuri," the woman answered after a brief moment of silence, "Yuri Egin."
XXX
"Where are my things?" asked Violet loudly. She always carried her bag which was bigger in the inside with her. Even though her wand was dead, all her other possessions were with her. What can she say? Well, she was an incredibly possessive person. Though it was a damn shame, that she didn't think of putting her Invisibility Cloak in her bag.
Yuri gave her a side-glance before hurrying to the corner of the cave, where a small bundle of clothes was located.
Violet felt her face burned. Those were her clothes. Ratty-looking and unfashionable.
"Here it is," answered Yuri. She gave an apologetic look after a look at Violet's bright red face, "I had to give you a change of clothes, since yours were quite burnt."
"Was I literally falling down in the sky and burning at the same time?" joked Violet.
One look at Yuri's face, and it told her all she needed to know. "Oh, Merlin."
"I also had to cut your hair as well," pointed out Yuri.
Right. Calm down. It was cool. It was just hair. And you could always grow it out.
"How fucking bad is it?" said Violet weakly with a smile on her face.
"It's short."
"Right."
Violet then noticed the strange creatures standing behind Yuri. "What are those?"
She felt her heart race a tiny bit, afraid of the unknown.
Yuri narrowed her blue eyes at her. "You can see them?"
"Well nah," said Violet rolling her eyes, "I mean who wouldn't notice a fucking snowman walking around in the middle of summer?"
"Hey, cut out the language," scolded Yuri, frowning at her slightly, "They're demons."
Demons? What the actual fuck? She shouldn't be freaking out being a witch but still! Demons!
"What do you mean?"
Yuri looked at her earnestly and explained it all patiently, "This world we live in, is called Assiah and there's another world called Gehenna where demons reside, who come to Assiah out of curiosity."
"Right."
A million things ran through Violet's mind. Was it possible that she was in a parallel world? Her world was called Earth, not Assiah! And demons as well! She wouldn't have believed Yuri if it weren't for her earnest eyes. Fucking impossible.
But then again. She was an impossible girl.
XXX
Yuri was a strange woman, Violet decided. The blue-eyed woman often helped take of her in her injured state, which didn't really allow her to move that much. But the fact that she talked to those weird little creatures, made Violet decide that Yuri Egin was indeed strange.
"You know you're fucking weird right," she blurted randomly on a sunny day.
Yuri gave her a look.
"But that's cool," Violet said quickly, "Don't ever change."
Yuri gave loud laugh. "I don't think I ever will."
The woman went back to her work of patrolling through the forest with a couple of snow-animated people.
Initially she was freaked out. Like who wouldn't at the sight of snowmen walking in the middle of fucking summer. But hey, she was a witch, which was the definition of defying all impossibilities.
"They have feelings as well," Yuri said to her one day, "They might not look like us or even have a heart, but they have feelings like us."
Violet felt something strange in her heart that day. She didn't like it. But she didn't hate it. A tiny bit of her knew what it was, and she told herself it was wrong. It can't be.
She shrugged herself out of her thoughts and lingered behind the woman, following in her footsteps.
She knew she spent at least a couple of weeks in the forest with Yuri. Surprisingly, she didn't dare or even think about venturing outside the forest. She knew that her wand was lost. Probably in ashes. Her shrunken broomstick was surprisingly intact. But she didn't dare take it out in front of the not-muggle.
Her head clashed with Yuri's back.
"Ouch!" she mumbled, rubbing her forehead and nose. "Why do you have such a hard back?"
On seeing Yuri's brow twitch, she backed away. The woman could easily go from being as happy as Dobby to as angry as a Hungarian Horntail.
"Why you brat!" Yuri screeched, before pausing for a moment and then she pouted. "I can't really come and chase you anyway."
"Why the hell not?" asked Violet with an air of curiosity. "It's fun."
"Yeah, it's fun for children isn't it?" beamed Yuri with a cheery look in her eyes. "How old are you anyway?"
"15," answered Violet with a proud look. It wasn't much to Yuri's 22 years, but Violet considered herself an adult.
Surprise ran through her when arms enveloped her. Violet stood still, awkwardly unsure of what to do. What was Yuri even trying to do?
"Happy birthday, Violet," whispered Yuri sneakily into her ears, "And you're 16 not 15, silly."
"Wha-what."
"July 31," said Yuri with knowing glance, "That's your birthday right."
"Yes, but how the hell did you know?" asked Violet, suddenly cold from feeling absence of Yuri's arms.
"You told me."
Ah, yes. She did. That seemed so long ago.
Yuri's hand slipped into her own and together they went back to the house.
And as they were walking hand in hand, something warm crawled its way through Violet's heart. And without her even realising it, her heart began to beat rapidly. Confused and hot, she blamed it down to the cold.
But then she realised something.
Somehow, she gained another home that wasn't Hogwarts.
XXX
"You're pregnant?!" she yelled, jumping in shock.
Mouth agape, she observed Yuri closely only to see she was indeed pregnant. Her belly was swollen. Merlin, she thought the woman was just fat.
"Well what did you think?" laughed Yuri, before pausing and soon the room become a lot chillier. "You didn't think I was fat, did you?"
"Of-of course not!" denied Violet hotly. "I-I-I- "
On seeing Yuri's glare for the truth, she said, "Yeah, I thought you were eating too much."
It didn't really skip Violet's eyes, even without her glasses, that Yuri seemed….to be eating a lot. Well, on a brighter side, at least she knew why now.
"Why! You brat!" shrieked Yuri, grabbing her arms out to murder Violet.
Violet ducked out of the way and ran out of the cave, laughing.
"Come and catch me," she yelled. In her moment of happiness, nostalgia snuck into her mind like a snake. Her friends…what were they doing right now?
Suddenly a pair of hands pushed her, and she fell onto the grass with mud decoratively adorning her face. Great.
Yuri noticed Violet's downed expression and pulled her up.
"Do you want to talk about it?" she hesitantly asked. "Sometimes letting it out can help than bundling it all in."
"Maybe later."
XXX
"It's weird how you never asked me about how easily I accepted those creatures," commented Violet as she slurped down on the soup with her green scrutinising Yuri.
"Because I know you're not normal," said Yuri simply. "You should've died."
Violet pulled on a sour face, her heart somehow aching at the bluntness of the statement, even though it was true.
Yuri went on saying, "It's impossible for someone to live after falling from the sky. And your wounds…"
"What about them?" drawled Violet.
"They seemed to be healing at a higher rate than it should be for a normal human being," explained Yuri, "At first, I thought you were a demon, but you didn't seem to have any features of one."
"I'm witch," revealed Violet hesitantly, though she was glad she didn't have to hide it from Yuri. And who gives a fuck whether she breaks the Statute of Secrecy. No one was here to boss her around.
"Oh, same," said Yuri cheerfully, "They call me a witch, well Witch of the Forest."
Disbelief went through Violet's head.
"No," she said again, "I'm an ACTUAL witch."
Silence fell inside the house with the pitter patter of rain being heard, battling against the howls of the wind.
"No way," breathed Yuri, eyes wide with shock, "You're telling the truth."
Violet snorted. "Of course, I am."
"You can do magic then."
"Yup."
"You ride a broomstick."
"Yup."
"You're actually a hag aren't' you?"
"Yup-what no!" screeched Violet. She then gestured to her youthful face. "I'm actually pretty young you know."
"Can you show me then?"
"Huh."
Yuri then impatiently said, "Magic, I want to see magic."
Violet was stumped on what to do. She could change into her animal form, which was a black panther, but she didn't want to freak Yuri out. She didn't have her wand. But that didn't mean she couldn't perform the simplest spells. If Dumbledore could do wandless magic, then so could she, which was what she was thinking a couple of weeks ago. Practice during the night, eventually led her to perform one measly spell. But hey, it was better than nothing.
"Lumos," she said with her eyes closed in concentration as she relentlessly envisioned a ball of light at her fingertips.
She vaguely heard a gasp of awe and she opened her eyes.
Yuri stood there, mouth agape with a beautiful expression of wonder in her eyes, looking the ball of light in Violet's hand.
Violet thought she looked beautiful.
XXX
It's a harmless question, thought Violet, Nothing bad will. Yet the more sensitive part of her wondered whether asking such a personal question would damage the relationship.
But before she knew it, the question was out of her mouth like a lightning bolt.
"What?" Yuri asked.
Violet gulped before asking, "Where's the father?"
Yuri stared at her for a long time before saying with finality, "He's gone."
Violet took the answer as an indicator to not ask about the matter any further, but she ignored it. She wanted to know.
"No, you're lying," she declared, "You're hiding something."
"No, I'm not," reasoned Yuri stubbornly.
"Then why would you not even go to the doctors for a check up on your pregnancy?" burst out Violet. She found it peculiar how Yuri never once attempted to go. It felt like she was hiding from something.
Suddenly, tears gathered in Yuri's blue eyes and lips began to tremble. "Because I can't!"
With that being said, she burst into tears, which flowed like a river from her eyes. "I-I can't go!"
Violet stood there awkwardly before placed her arms around Yuri firmly. Merlin, how she hated the hormonal swings of a pregnant woman.
"I'm your friend," Violet said with surprising gentleness, "You can tell me if you want."
She winced when she felt Yuri's tears seep into her shirt. Pulling Yuri away from her arms, she wiped away the older woman's tears and held her cheeks and pressed her forehead against her own.
"You know someone once told me it was better to let things out then keep it bottled in," Violet said with a knowing glance.
"Oh, shut up, Vi," giggled Yuri through her tears. "And besides, I think you might hate me."
Violet looked at Yuri, eyebrows raised sceptically. "I don't think I'd ever hate you, Yuri."
"What if I told you I'm pregnant with Satan's child?"
What.
"You're joking, right?" laughed Violet. It was ridiculous. It was like saying Malfoy was secretly in love with Hermione. Well, now that she thought of it…it actually didn't sound that bad…Malfoy did end up hogging Hermione's attention more than Violet's or Ron's.
It only took her a few seconds to realise that Yuri wasn't kidding. Merlin, Satan. Wasn't he like the king of demons or something? And Yuri fell in love with this…thing…. person?
(a pain attacked Violet's heart before she hammered it down-now was not the time for her weird heartaches)
"Start from the beginning Yuri," demanded Violet.
And Violet listened. She listened to how Yuri spoke of her encounters with Satan. She watched Yuri talk on and on about that demon she loved. She spoke of a world where humans and demons could live together. She spoke of her adventures with Satan, trying to help him understand the beauty known as the world. Helped him to understand about life and death.
"Wow," said Violet after a pause. She looked upon, only to see Yuri looking at her shyly with fear. Fear of what though? Ridiculing her ideas and dreams? Or was it of rejection?
"Yeah," agreed Yuri, "Do you believe me?"
"Always," she said without a beat. That look in her blue eyes. There was no way of faking an emotion like that.
XXX
The fresh green leaves turned orange, fiery and brittle. As winter came with her howls and cries, the leaves fell, leaving behind bare trees.
The oak-wood trees though remained strong, fresh and green.
Yuri had always asked her to place her hands against her belly to feel the child kicking. Violet always refused, feeling it was too personal. With Yuri being heavily pregnant, Violet took charge of chores and preparing meals, which were often very simple with the very few ingredients they had left over after storing up for winter.
"Violet!" yelled Yuri.
The said person rushed over, fearing it was a warning for an early labour. Yuri warned Violet about the implications of hiring a doctor and said that it was better if she just delivered alone. Violet obliged unwilling and kept her worries to herself.
"What happened?!" she demanded as she knelt beside the chair on which Yuri was sitting.
Immediately, Yuri took hold of Violet's hands and placed them on her stomach.
With a cry, Violet was just about to pull away until she felt light bumps against her hands. Eyes widening, she glanced at Yuri, who only smiled at her. She pressed her ears against Yuri's stomach and marvelled at sounds she could hear.
"It's amazing," she said with awe in her eyes, "IT really is."
"That's what life is," said Yuri wita h distant look, "Life is amazing."
XXX
They were in a cave when Yuri suddenly began to feel pain like shards of glass twist in her stomach. Her hands immediately reached for Violet to grip as her knees collapsed.
"What's going on?!" cried out Violet. She looked at Yuri only to know something not good was happening. Why was she in pain?
"I'm in labour," grunted out Yuri as she took in deep breaths.
Oh Merlin.
"I'm not a doctor," said Violet immediately.
"No, you're a psychopath who's secretly a pink dragon," rebutted Yuri, "I can do this myself but I'm going to need help."
"What do I do?" said Violet determinedly, wanting to help.
"Start by helping me get comfortable on the floor," commanded Yuri. "And go and get some warm water and cloth."
Violet managed to get Yuri comfortable on a flower bed, that was soon formed by the creatures. Just before she went out of the cave, she asked, "Will you be okay?"
"Labour can be unpredictable."
Violet ran to the house quickly as a cheetah, putting in the years of Quidditch into use. Pulling the taps on, she left the tub underneath the taps to be filled and she went to the cupboards and gather sheets of cloth. Despite the house not having warm water, she could always just heat it up using her incendio spell as waiting for the fire to heat up the water would take forever.
Together with her things, she ran through the forest, battling against the snow to the cave, where Yuri was. Was she scared? Yes, perhaps she was. She didn't want to lose Yuri. Violet then remembered why she pushed Sirius out of the way.
"Yuri," Violet said, "You okay?"
Violet only received a glare in return. So maybe that was a stupid question.
She then lightly heated up the water by using incendio. A column of fire ran towards the tub of water and steam rose.
"This is only the beginning part," Yuri said, "But there's a chance this is the second part."
Violet felt her brows raising in confusion. "What do you mean?"
"Remember how told you about back pains today?" Yuri said sheepishly.
"Yuri!" scolded Violet, "You should've told me."
"What would have you done?" asked Yuri dismissively, "You're only just a girl, Violet."
"I can support you, Yuri," said Violet strongly, ignoring the weird tinges of aches. "And it's not like you know anything about childbirth as well."
Yuri sighed as droplets of sweat rolled down the sides of her forehead. "We're both so young and full of life."
Violet smirked. "Hah, as if you're young, you're about to become a mother!"
"Oi," screeched Yuri, "I'm still young, only 22!"
"And you're becoming a bloody mother, "said Violet with a soft smile. "What are you going to name them?"
"Them?" asked Yuri with a quizzical look.
"Well, you look so big, so it has to be twins," said Violet patiently.
Yuri had a tic and glared at Violet. "You're calling me fat!"
"No, I'm not."
"Yes, you are."
"Well, I think you're beautiful," said Violet without her even realising it. She then realised her statement meant. "Like you're pretty even though you're big."
Yuri looked at her mouth agape. "You just called me fat!"
Violet only smiled until she felt like her hand was being crushed.
"You know I really appreciate my hand being not damaged," placated Violet, "So, please let go Yuri."
"No," she denied, "I think it's time and I need someone there. Go down and see what's going on."
What. Merlin. Fuck No. Just no.
"You want me to do what?" shrieked Violet. Maybe Yuri was talking about something else.
"Go under my skirt and see whether the baby is there or whatever," commanded Yuri with such ferocity.
Violet tentatively went under Yuri's skirt and what she saw promptly horrified her.
"Yuri," she said after a brief moment of silence, "Is there supposed to be part of a head there?"
Yuri somehow managed to laugh loudly even though she was under pain. "Yes, there is, silly!"
"Okay," said Violet, blinking twice hoping to get the image out of her head, "I think you need to push."
With that being said, Yuri began to push, clenching her hands against her skirt. Violet tried to offer words of encouragement, but she had a feeling Yuri would only glare at her and so decided not to.
After a few pained screams, a single high-pitched cry echoed in the cave.
Yuri gave out a loud sigh and shared a glance with Violet, who then was holding a blood-covered baby in her arms.
Violet gazed at the crying child in her arms and an indescribable feeling rose in her chest. She felt something in her throat and soon she burst out into tears.
"Holy shit, Yuri," sniffed Violet, "You have a wrinkly baby boy."
"Bring him to me," said Yuri who had tears in her eyes. "He's beautiful, isn't he?"
"Err," said Violet, unsure of what to say. Should she say that he was an incarnation of an old man in a baby's body or say that he was utterly adorable?
"He's beautiful, isn't he?"
"Yup."
Then Yuri gave a pained gasp. "I think you're right."
"Huh?" asked Violet confused. What in Merlin's saggy balls was she going on about now?
"I think I'm having more than one child."
XXX
She looks beautiful, though Violet as she watched the new mother hold her two baby boys.
"The one with blue flames will be called Rin," began Yuri tiredly, "And this little one here will be called Yukio."
Violet gave a rare but gentle smile towards the small family. "They're wonderful names even though I have no fucking clue what they mean."
"Hey language!" said Yuri, "Can't swear around children."
Violet only laughed until her eyes caught sight of red down in the lower regions of Yuri. Blood.
"Yuri," said Violet with worry flashing in her eyes, "You're blee- "
"I know, Violet," said Yuri with a resigned tone, "I know."
With disbelief, she said, "Then what are you- "
"It's past that point," interrupted Yuri with a sad smile, "I can feel it fading. But hey, let me just enjoy this moment with my babies."
You're dying and you just want to talk to your children, thought Violet sardonically. Maybe if she had her wand, then maybe she could have brought someone in. Hell, she was so fucking useless.
"Hey Violet," said Yuri cheerfully, "You'll help me, won't you?"
Violet sighed tiredly and blinking quickly to prevent tears from falling. "You already know the answer to that Yuri." Why was she smiling as though she wasn't going to be dying?
"Can you please take care of my children?" asked Yuri with wild desperation in her eyes, "Raise them as your own. I know you're only 16, but there will be people wanting to kill them."
Could she? The woman was about to die and here she was giving her, a selfish girl, the custody of her children.
"I promise you, Yuri," she swore, wanting to help the woman to whom she owed simply far too much and perhaps also out of something else that her traitorous heart told her, "I will take care of your children."
Just as she said that, Yuri, still smiling, gave out a loud sigh of relief. "That's good. I want them to live and show them demons and humans can live together."
Merlin, she looked so happy and simply full of life. And just then, with a tiny bit of a push, Violet realised and understood. She can't deny it. Love. It was love. All this time, she knew it, but she was too much of a coward to act on it. Why? Fear? Rejection? It was love, even if it was a woman, something she didn't give a damn about.
Merlin, she loved Yuri.
"Yuri, I think I'm in love with you."
If only she had Time.
AN: Finally reuploaded the first chapter and ohmygod I am just cringing when I read this. i know nothing of labour and birth other than it's painful so i apologise in advance for that.
Since I have USB now, I do have the 2nd chapter and a bit of the 3rd but after that nothing.
And since it has also been an incredibly long time since I have last written something, my writing is rusty.
tbh i have also lost my muse for this but i will probably regain it at some point in my life...hopefully.
hope you all have a lovely christmas.