Challenge #18: Trick of the Mist
Title: Trick of the Mist
Author: scherrymouse
House: Slytherin
Word Count: 5 x 100
Pairing: Albus/Scorpius
Rating: G... I think.
Challenge: #18 - fog
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, nor the characters from it. I don't make any money from the writing of this story.
Summary: Fog had rolled in and there was nothing left of the bright spring day Albus had set out in.
A/N: This is a drabble that came to me when I was thinking about how much I've been missing this comm for the past few months. It's awesome to see it's still going. ^_^
Traditionally, white represents purity. Here, however, it bore down on everything, tainting and distorting it. Nightmarish fragments of lampposts and roof tiles and trees suddenly loomed high above before disappearing just as freakishly quickly. Fog had rolled in and there was nothing left of the bright spring day Albus had set out in.
Stop. Squint. Shuffle forwards. Stop. Squint. Shuffle forwards. Stop. Squint. Shuffle forwards. Stop. Squint. Shuffle...
Albus shivered and clutched his light jacket around him, though the damp had settled in it. The damp had settled everywhere. He could hear very little and see even less. He'd tried to turn around, back towards home - the shopping could wait - but the mist had swirled around him, tricking him. Landmarks had changed without warning, his sense of direction useless. He couldn't even say whether he was now closer to home or further away from it. Afraid of tripping over something, he was walking so slowly that it didn't really feel as if he'd moved at all, but he'd been careful not to stop for more than a few seconds at a time. He couldn't. It was better to be moving relentlessly in this fog than to be trapped, blind, helpless, pressed down on all sides by the whiteness, frozen in place.
Albus shivered again. If only they hadn't settled down near Muggles: he could have Apparated right. To. His. Front. Door.
Stop. Squint. Shuffle forwards. Stop. Squint. Shuffle forwards. Stop. Squint. Shuffle forwards. Stop. Squint. Shuffle... Stop!
A sound! Close by. But what was causing it?
He paused for a moment to listen intently, but could hear nothing else. Had he just imagined it?
Another silent moment passed.
And another...
No... No, he was alone.
Alone out here.
...Shuffle forwards. Stop. Squint. Shuffle forwards -
But as soon as he'd started up again, so had the sound, a muffled dragging on the ground much like the noise of his own cautious footsteps. Someone or something was approaching him - or so he thought, though it was impossible to be certain. He... he had to stop, though. If this moving thing was in front of him, he could easily collide with it.
He clenched his fists briefly, once, then came to a halt. "H-hello?" he stuttered, his voice echoing unnaturally, pressing around him like the fog.
The thing stopped briefly before continuing on - More quickly this time?
"Is somebody there?!" he called out, voice full of confidence even as his hands started shaking, even as the panic started surging.
Another horrible moment, and then a shape made itself known through the endless stream of white. At the same time he felt one of his shaking hands being clasped in someone else's firm one, and words rang out, impossibly clear: "Thank Merlin, Albus, I've found you."
Just like that, Albus's panic drained away. His shoulders slumped, no longer tensed with fear. His racing heartbeat slowed. He held the hand back, just as firmly.
And: "Scorpius," he breathed. "You came."
Author: scherrymouse
House: Slytherin
Word Count: 5 x 100
Pairing: Albus/Scorpius
Rating: G... I think.
Challenge: #18 - fog
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, nor the characters from it. I don't make any money from the writing of this story.
Summary: Fog had rolled in and there was nothing left of the bright spring day Albus had set out in.
A/N: This is a drabble that came to me when I was thinking about how much I've been missing this comm for the past few months. It's awesome to see it's still going. ^_^
Traditionally, white represents purity. Here, however, it bore down on everything, tainting and distorting it. Nightmarish fragments of lampposts and roof tiles and trees suddenly loomed high above before disappearing just as freakishly quickly. Fog had rolled in and there was nothing left of the bright spring day Albus had set out in.
Stop. Squint. Shuffle forwards. Stop. Squint. Shuffle forwards. Stop. Squint. Shuffle forwards. Stop. Squint. Shuffle...
Albus shivered and clutched his light jacket around him, though the damp had settled in it. The damp had settled everywhere. He could hear very little and see even less. He'd tried to turn around, back towards home - the shopping could wait - but the mist had swirled around him, tricking him. Landmarks had changed without warning, his sense of direction useless. He couldn't even say whether he was now closer to home or further away from it. Afraid of tripping over something, he was walking so slowly that it didn't really feel as if he'd moved at all, but he'd been careful not to stop for more than a few seconds at a time. He couldn't. It was better to be moving relentlessly in this fog than to be trapped, blind, helpless, pressed down on all sides by the whiteness, frozen in place.
Albus shivered again. If only they hadn't settled down near Muggles: he could have Apparated right. To. His. Front. Door.
Stop. Squint. Shuffle forwards. Stop. Squint. Shuffle forwards. Stop. Squint. Shuffle forwards. Stop. Squint. Shuffle... Stop!
A sound! Close by. But what was causing it?
He paused for a moment to listen intently, but could hear nothing else. Had he just imagined it?
Another silent moment passed.
And another...
No... No, he was alone.
Alone out here.
...Shuffle forwards. Stop. Squint. Shuffle forwards -
But as soon as he'd started up again, so had the sound, a muffled dragging on the ground much like the noise of his own cautious footsteps. Someone or something was approaching him - or so he thought, though it was impossible to be certain. He... he had to stop, though. If this moving thing was in front of him, he could easily collide with it.
He clenched his fists briefly, once, then came to a halt. "H-hello?" he stuttered, his voice echoing unnaturally, pressing around him like the fog.
The thing stopped briefly before continuing on - More quickly this time?
"Is somebody there?!" he called out, voice full of confidence even as his hands started shaking, even as the panic started surging.
Another horrible moment, and then a shape made itself known through the endless stream of white. At the same time he felt one of his shaking hands being clasped in someone else's firm one, and words rang out, impossibly clear: "Thank Merlin, Albus, I've found you."
Just like that, Albus's panic drained away. His shoulders slumped, no longer tensed with fear. His racing heartbeat slowed. He held the hand back, just as firmly.
And: "Scorpius," he breathed. "You came."