Marmoris | Rabastan Lestrange [1] ✔︎

48 | WHO ARE YOU

Phoenix lost count of how many times she had regained consciousness, after waking up a few times and finding herself unable to open her eyes. People were hectically moving things and shouting instructions at each other. She didn't stay awake long enough to find out who the voices belonged to before sleep pulled her back in. However, it wasn't much of a release as the faces she had seen about two weeks earlier returned. The visions were broken into pieces, jumping from one scene or detail to another, just like the dreams she had been having for more than a month. All of them showed her scenes of death and people hurting, but what frightened her the most was seeing Will's face among them, staring back at her, his eyes missing all life as Maureen held him in her arms.

Every time it caused her to snap out of her dreams. This time darkness was surrounding her and she felt a numb pain still lingering at her side and in her head. She wanted to move, to scream and open her eyes but it was as if she was trapped inside somebody else's body. She expected to fall back into the chaos of her dreams, but suddenly she heard the voices clear. It was Rabastan and an unknown man, with a deep voice and an American accent, talking, or rather shouting.

"See, I know what it feels like to feel like you're alone, like you're beyond being fixed, but I don't want you to make the same mistakes I made. There was a time when I messed up everything I tried but you can't expect people to clean up after you. Been there, done that, doesn't work. So get your act together and keep fighting," the unknown voice exclaimed loudly.

Phoenix heard something shatter against the floor before Rabastan yelled, "What do you think I'm doing here? I didn't do it and nobody even cares to listen to me."

"Don't blame it on you being alone, because you're not."

"Stop telling me who I have to be. You know nothing," Phoenix' friend spat. "I've been alone all my life and apparently that hasn't changed."

"No, you're not. None of that is true. This girl was willing to give her life to safe you. So, don't you dare say that nobody cares," the man shouted at him. "I tried to help you when you came to us seeking for help, but I'm not even sure if you wanted us to help you in the first place. Perhaps you just wanted to pull more people down with you when you fall."

She heard feet slamming against the floor and then a door was slammed shut. Only seconds later she heard the man's voice once again but muffled. "Because I know what it feels like to feel like you don't belong anywhere. I'm old enough to make my own choices, Louis."

Then she lost the sense of her body and the visions returned. They were so realistic and when she watched Bellatrix shot the killing curse at Will she flinched, as if she was watching a murder scene. The scene started to shake as she heard Maureen cry out and saw her stumbling to his side. Then everything started to shatter into pieces and she watched the unknown young man with chin-length brown hear cry out in anger before he threw a dagger right through her. She didn't feel it, but when she turned around she saw nothing. There was nothing but darkness surrounding her. But then she realised something.

Phoenix was finally able to control her breathing again.

She yanked her eyes open, just before closing them again due to the light shining in through a window. In a second attempt she slowly opened them, letting them adjust to her surroundings. It didn't take her long to make out that she was lying in the Hospital Wing – again – as she caught sight of the long windows, the white sheets, separating her from the rest of the room, and the decorated ceiling. Phoenix swallowed, attempting to sit, but immediately black dots invaded her sight. She felt gentle hands push her back into her soft pillow. "Easy."

She turned her head around only to find the brunette stranger from her visions looking at her with kind emerald eyes. Her breath caught in her throat and she scurried away from him, wincing in pain of the movement and her heartbeat accelerating.

"Who are you?" she asked, her dry throat audible in her voice. "What do you want?"

"I'm not here to hurt you, Phoenix," he assured her.

He was obviously trying to calm her down, but it didn't work, especially as she recognised his voice as the one screaming horrible things at Rabastan. He seemed much nicer, his voice almost sounding comforting.

"Why should I trust you?"

"I don't know. I guess you'll just have to." He shrugged and stretched out a hand towards her. "I'm Jack Avery. You might know my brother Elias. He's one year above you, I think"

Slowly Phoenix nodded. In fact, there was a boy named Elias Avery a year above her. She had never spoken to him, but she knew that Regulus had become friends with him over the past year. Hesitantly she shook his hand, not taking her eyes off of him, as she sensed an aura of both, kindness and dangerous strength, around him

Then her eyes widened and she attempted to sit up again. "Rabastan? Is he-"

"He's okay, walked out of the Hospital Wing this morning," Jack cut her off, watching her curiously, obviously waiting for a reaction.

"But how?" she breathed, staring at him incredulously.

The brunette man placed his elbow on her bed, placing his chin on his folded hands. "What happened back there, Phoenix?"

"I don't know. I found Rabastan in that classroom, blood covering his stomach. I tried to help him, but then I must have fainted," Phoenix lied, her voice trembling as she remembered what had happened.

"How did you try to help him?" he inquired further.

She stared at him and furrowed her eyebrows. "I tried to stop the bleeding with my jumper, but why does that matter?"

Luke shook his head. "That's not what I meant. What did you do after you realised that it wouldn't help much?"

"What? What are you talking about?" Phoenix figured playing dumb would be the best way to keep her secret, although the young man's gaze not leaving her once made lying quite difficult. Perhaps she could force him into believing her? "I didn't do anything else."

He leaned back in his chair, audibly letting the air out of his lungs. He seemed to see right through her, but somehow his features showed nothing but kindness although she had just lied to his face. "You know that your attempt to save his life nearly cost your life, don't you?"

Phoenix' stared at him in disbelief. He knew about her powers, although nobody could've told him. He didn't seem to be fazed by her reaction, however, and kept talking. "You need to be more careful. I get that he means a lot to you, but you can't just experiment with your powers without knowing what impact it will have on your health."

"I don't know what you're talking about," she persisted.

She could see annoyance crossing his features. "Stop playing dumb, Phoenix. We don't have time for that."

"What do you mean we don't have time?" she asked, hoping to get more information out of him but he kept being mysterious.

"Doesn't matter. You need to trust me on this. I know it's much to ask considering you don't know me, but you have to." He got out of his chair. "We'll start your training tomorrow."

He gave her a nod and walked towards the door, obviously not expecting her to complain. However, Phoenix once again tried to sit up, but the pain in her side made her wince, so she called out, "No, I can't just miss school because some stranger told me to do so. What are you even doing here? Why do you know all of that stuff? Why won't you tell me what's going on?"

Jack spun around on his heel. "Because my brother asked me to do so."

"Elias? How would he-"

"No, not Elias," he answered, annoyance swinging in his voice. "My older brother Louis Avery, your Defence teacher. Do you believe me now?"

Phoenix didn't reply and simply watched him turnaround once more. As he walked out the door, he looked back over his shoulder,giving her a comforting smile. "Try to get some rest, we'll figure it all out."