runaway_cub (runaway_cub) wrote in snark_n_bark, @ 2008-06-09 12:13:00 |
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Entry tags: | complete, faelan, gaius, harry, regulus |
When you lose something you can't replace
Characters: Faelan, Gaius, Harry
Summary: The residents of Haven's Loft get the news
It was a beautiful day. The sky was bright, it was warm and sunny, and at the nursery the plants had acted livelier than they had in as long as Faelan could remember. Well before quitting time, Neville had decided they should both bugger off and enjoy the day, and Faelan decided to floo to the bookshop for a kiss so he could walk the rest of the way home. He was just rounding the bend in the path where the house first came into view at the top of the hill when, looking ahead, he saw two white wings flapping some distance away. Edward was flying toward him.
"Hey boy!" he called, smiling, but slowly it faded into a frown of confusion. The owl looked all about business. He wasn't twittering about as he usually did upon flying out for a greeting, and Faelan noticed another shape beside him, a tawny owl that was only now starting to stand out against the trees. This owl was carrying something, and Edward glided steadily along beside him as if to make sure he performed his task up to standard.
Edward always did a good job, but he was more of a pet than a working bird. Faelan rarely got mail.
"What's up, Ed?" he asked as the bird reached him and circled his head, waiting as the stranger dropped its post and hooted off. Faelan caught the letter in his hands, and turned it over, recognizing the scrawl on the front.
"Oh, it's just a note from Sirius," he muttered as Edward landed lightly on Faelan's shoulder. "Why didn't he send it with you, hmmm?" he wondered aloud, reaching up to pat his friend.
Standing there in the middle of the path, Faelan read the letter through three times, but it didn't seem any more real the last time than the first. Sirius never talked like this. And if he'd suddenly decided to express himself at this random point in time, why post a letter when he easily could have left a note in the house? A slow chill came over Faelan in the otherwise balmy air. Something had been off with Sirius for days, and he'd been talking like he actually believed he had to listen to that Stubby bloke...
"What the hell?" he murmured slowly, but his throat tried to close and he almost couldn't breathe.
"HARRY!" he shouted, breaking into a dead run up the steep and rocky incline, Edward pushing up from his shoulder and following only a few beats behind.