A Beautiful View [Finished]

[hohum]

Lucinda gazed over the horizon as the sun began to slowly rise over the treetops. She wasn’t sure exactly how she had gotten atop this tower, but it offered beautiful scenery. She was awaken early in the morning by her owl who insisted upon an early breakfast. Disgruntled, Lucinda had slowly gotten ready for the day, pulled on her robes, cloak, scarf, and mittens, and headed out of the Gryffindor Common Room. She decided that she would release her owl out the window of one of the towers and maybe retired back to bed.

It was still dark in the castle, with only dim lights illuminating from dying torches. She removed her wand from her robes and lit the tip to add a more sufficient glow to the dim light. The owl upon her shoulder hooted happily and she grunted sleepily in return. She must have taken a wrong turn, for she was now on the tenth floor - not her destination. She didn’t know how she did it, but she when she flourished her wand a secret door appeared. Interested, Lucinda followed the door.

Now Lucinda was standing atop the tallest tower at Hogwarts. The view from all ends of this amazing tower were the most magnificent sights Lucinda had ever seen. She wished that she had a camera just to take pictures. She saw her owl in the distance, hooting gleefully as it soared in the crisp morning. The sky was still gray with a light drizzle of snow spilling from the few stray clouds. It was slightly chillier being so high up in the atmosphere, but Lucinda didn’t mind much.

The one thing Lucinda did mind was the height. She hated heights and dreaded them. When she first looked over the ledge she felt like she might pass out. She swayed dangerously in place, but put her hands securely on the stone ledge next to her to keep her balance. She was debating on whether or not to leave, but then she saw the sun beginning to peek over the Black Lake and decided that she should stay and watch the sunrise.

Lucinda rested her elbows atop the stone surface of the ledge and placed her head in her hands. She sighed as the remarkable sight became more prominent. She had never seen something so beautiful before and thought she could stay up there forever just to watch it. The sun cast a soft glow on the Black Lake, sending colors of orange, yellow, and red upon the water’s surface. As it rose to meet the trees, they welcomed it gracefully with open branches, allowing the rays to peek through.[/size]

[Professor Zoe Black]

Zoe had been wandering around the school aimlessly all night. She hadn't been able to sleep for something was troubling her that she couldn't quite figure out.
She had been to the Forest, the Lake, the Owlery and still sleep did not better her.

She found her feet taking her to the Highest Tower.
Why would I want to go up here? Is that what's been bothering me? A tower? she pondered for a moment before gesturing her wand so the door appeared.

She had found this tower on one of her many night time strolls.
She walked inside and saw Lucinda stood near the ledge.
"Oh," she said, surprised that Lucinda was awake at this time, "hello."

She walked over to the ledge and followed Lucinda's gaze.
She saw it landed on the sun, rising over the Lake.
It turned the Lake a murky orange colour.
The trees were black silhouettes against it's fiery beauty.
"Wow," Zoe whispered in awe, "that's beautiful."

[hohum]

Lucinda was lost in her trance and barely noticed that someone else had joined her atop the High Tower. It was Professor Zoe Black. It wasn’t until she approached and said ‘hello’ in a surprised voice that Lucinda tore her eyes from the scene before her. She smiled and greeted her back. Professor Black looked out into the scene as well, marveling at the sunrise.

“Yeah, it is,” Lucinda sighed. “This tower is the best place to get a great view of the castle and the grounds.” The sun peeked higher and higher. It seemed to be going faster than Lucinda wanted it to. She wished it would just stay this way.

Lucinda mentally decreed that this was going to be her getaway. Of course, she now wasn’t the only one who knew about this place. The teachers and staff members all must, because it didn’t seem like a secret, especially since Lucinda wasn’t getting in trouble for being up here. It must be neutral territory. This was where Lucinda was going to go if she needed to be alone, do homework, or just get away. She could practice spells up here without interruption and drill herself on new spells that were given to her by her father or family friends at the Ministry.

She’d have to introduce this place to Addy, however. It would be nice to just hang out here with her, too. Addy and Lucinda’s relationship had grown much during their first week here at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. They both loved to have adventures and break the rules sometimes. They were trying to keep a low profile for the moment, however, considering they had both gotten detentions already. They could keep out of trouble up here.

A familiar owl came flying in their direction. Lucinda thought she recognized it, and when it landed on her shoulder, she noticed it as her brother, Carlisle’s, owl. She smiled and stroked it’s neck. The owl extended it’s leg and Lucinda untied the letter. The owl must be tired from the long journey from Durmstrang.

“Thank you,” she said. “You can go down to the Owlery and rest, if you wish.” Nipping her ear affectionately, the owl departed, zooming downward.[/size]

[Professor Zoe Black]

Zoe kept her eyes on the sun rise while Lucinda answered her.
"All the times I was up her as a child, and not once have I ever seen the sun rise."
She smiled and watched the light creep over the sleeping grounds of Hogwarts.
Her daze was interrupted by a rustle of feathers.
She saw an owl land on Lucinda's shoulder out of the corner of her eye.
She heard Lucinda talking to it, but she did not let her eyes wander away from the beautiful scene.

[hohum]

Lucinda heard Professor Black mention how out of the many times she had come up to this high tower, she had never once saw the sun rise. Lucinda opened her mouth in shock.

"Never?" she asked in disbelief. "It's such a pretty site. And you came up here as a child? You mean when you attended Hogwarts?" She tore off the envelope as she said this, removing the folded bit of parchment inside. She looked at her brother's messy scrawl before she actually began to read it.[/size]

[Professor Zoe Black]

Zoe was surprised at Lucinda's shock.
"Yes," she said, "I was always back in the common room before sunrise, to avoid getting caught by teachers walking down to breakfast."
She remembered the time, just before sunrise, when she had almost ran straight into McGonagall. She'd hidden behind the One-Eyed Witch statue. The Professor was too tired to even notice her.

[hohum]

Lucinda laughed at Professor Black, as she declared that she had snuck up here often and went down to avoid teachers. Lucinda would do that too sometimes if she had to, however she wasn't too afraid of the teachers.

Lucinda read the message from her brother and frowned. He was not happy about their father's departure either. If there was one thing her brother was good for, it was spilling your guts out. They could sit in a room and talk for hours about something that had been bothering them. Both of them felt extremely confident when confiding in each other, which was a good form of a sibling relationship.

“No kidding!” Lucinda suddenly shouted at the letter. She just remembered that Professor Black was there, and she gave her a shy, apologetic smile. “Sorry…just talking to myself,” she muttered. “Or rather to the paper.” She sighed, playing with the corner of the letter absently.

“It’s sad, really, how bad things are getting,” Lucinda commented, looking out at the vast landscape.[/size]

[Professor Zoe Black]

Zoe smiled as Lucinda laughed.
She stood silently, staring at the sun that had now risen far in the sky.
Lucinda shouted and Zoe turned around to see what had happened. Lucinda apologized and said she was just talking to the letter.
Zoe smiled.
Lucinda then said something else that puzzled Zoe, “It’s sad, really, how bad things are getting."
"In what way?" She asked, confused and genuinely caring.

[hohum]

Professor Black seemed confused by Lucinda's previous comment, about how bad things were getting. More and more witches and wizards were disappearing, some turning up dead in the forest. The Order was growing worried, Lucinda knew, and so were the people at the Ministry. She explained all of this to Professor Black, hoping that she would understand now.

There was only one thing that proved her suspcions, as well.

"My father wouldn't have left if things were alright," she added gloomly, glancing at the now tattered letter in her hands. She wasn't sure if Professor Black had heard the news of her father's acceptance back into the Auror Department, even if only for a short time. How short that time would be, no one knew. "The Ministry wouldn't have begged as much as they did and my dad wouldn't have caved. He's extremely dogmatic, my father is. He hardly ever changes his mind."

She stared absentmindedly out into the vast world beyond her. The sun was rising high into the sky now. Lucinda realized that she was getting hungry, but ignored the feeling. She didn't feel like eating anything quite yet.[/size]

[Professor Zoe Black]

Zoe listened to Lucinda.
"Your father is right, but the Ministry are being targeted personally. If people don't stand up and fight now, we will have no world left to live in. People like you, the daughter of a powerful Auror and me, almost as famous as the Weasleys for being blood traitors, will be first on the long list of people to be killed. If your father wasn't out there, fighting now, we will not have any future to look forward to, and your dreams of being an Auror will be shattered."
She surveyed Lucinda, observing her body language. She could tell Lucinda didn't want her father to go, she was worried about him, as was natural, but her father is being selfless, just so that Lucinda could have a future, and for that, she had to admire him.

[hohum]

Lucinda listened to what Professor Black had to say. She was right in what she said, even if Lucinda didn't want to admit it. She knew well that what her father was doing was the right desicion, but she couldn't help but feel angry and upset at him all the while. She nodded slowly.

"I know, you are right," she admitted, bowing her head again. "I know why he is doing this but I still just..." Lucinda couldn't put it in words. Her emotions and thoughts were completely warped right now, knotted in her mind so tight that she could not undo the knot. "I just don't want him to get hurt is all."

That wasn't the complete truth, for that emotion was still indescribable in words. That was the best she could come up with for the time being, however.[/size]

[Professor Zoe Black]

Zoe studied Lucinda with stern eyes.
"No-one wants their loved ones to be hurt, Lucinda, but without the help of your father, many other people will be hurt or killed.
"The Death Eaters are close to achieving their goal. The Prime Minister is nuder the Imperious Curse, but I don't know what they are plotting just yet. I have a good idea, regardless.
"I believe that the Death Eaters are trying to take control of the Muggle world, and, in turn, destroy what they have. Your father is helping to stop that, and you should be proud to be his daughter."
She smiled at Lucinda, although her words may not be comforting to her.

[hohum]

Lucinda became interested in what Black had to say. She claimed that the Death Eaters are most likely planning to take over the muggle World. That would be extremely bad on everyone’s part. The wizarding world and magic would be revealed and many of the muggles would face certain brutalities and even death.

“I am proud to be his daughter!” she snapped viciously at the last comment. She realized her viciousness and calmed herself at once. Bowing her head against the wind, she looked at her brother’s untidy scrawl. What would happen to them if he died? Where would they go? They had no other relatives and Lucinda refused to live with anyone else. She mentally concluded that if the worst should happen, she would take Carlisle and live far away until they were both seventeen and old enough to become secret Aurors. No one would know about them, and they would go and kill all those stupid Death Eaters who were ruining the lives of so many.

She grinned just at the thought and suddenly slid to the ground of the tower so that she was now sitting with her knees drawn up. She leaned back against the cold stone ledge wall. “I am proud,” she said quietly and more calmly. “Just nervous.”[/size]

[Professor Zoe Black]

Zoe gazed at Lucinda.
"Nervous of what?" she asked.
Lucinda was so caring about her father. Zoe wished she'd been able to do that too. She shook off that depressing thought and looked at Lucinda again.
She sat down, with her legs crossed, facing Lucinda.
"We cannot go about our lives being cautious all of the time. If we do that, we would never be able to live freely," she said, suddenly, more to break the silence than anything else.
She traced the line's of the stones in the floor with her finger. Stopping only when she couldn't reach any further. She looked at Lucinda again, to see her expression.

[hohum]

Lucinda could feel Black's gaze upon her, but did not acknowledge it. Instead, she continued to cast her own gaze upon her drawn knees, where she continued to fumbled with the letter that was now more tattered than ever. Good thing she had good memory on the contents, for it must be illegible by now. She heard the question that escaped Black's lips, but remained silent for a moment. She didn't seem to understand.

Next thing she knew, Black was sitting cross-legged in front of her, peering thoughtfully at her. She said a statement about how people mustn't be cautious all the time, but to be more freely. Didn't that contradict the whole mess they were in anyway? With the Death Eaters, living in caution was good because it kept you on your toes for any sign of malicious activity.

Lucinda continued to stare at the crumpled parchment, keeping her face blank as she thought this through. She contemplated on how she wanted to respond. Opening her mouth to say something, she was interupted by the screech of an approaching owl. Lucinda looked up to see an owl that was not familiar to her. It simply dropped a Daily Prophet by their feet and set off on its way.

It had to be well into the morning, but Lucinda didn't want to leave quite yet. Every morning she received the Prophet to check up on recent details. At this very moment, she was a bit reluctant to read it. When she noticed her father's proud face upon the cover with another man, her interest was sparked again.

She grabbed it fast and read the front page article. It spoke of how her father had, once again, successfully retrieved a pair of muggle born sisters who disappeared six weeks prior. They were in terrible condition, having endured the Cruciatus Curse and many other torturous hexes//jinks.

Apparently there were two Death Eaters guarding the two trapped souls. Kade Chaplin had warded off both of them, sending one to Azkaban and the other didn't make it through the one-on-two battle, as the muggle borns had their wands snapped by the Death Eaters.

She couldn't help but to sigh in relief as she lay the paper on the stone again. At least she knew he was safe. What the Prophet failed to mention, however, was when he was coming home. She felt overjoyed at the fact that he had just saved those muggle borns, and knew she wasn't the only one. The things Black had been trying to tell her were starting to sink in as new revelations came into view.[/size]