The Caged Whispers
“Ommm” Siya chanted the mantra for the nth time with her eyes closed. She was sitting by an archway inside the Singhania house. It was a place she usually visited to meditate and to keep her mind stable and calm. She opened her eyes and saw a blurred white ceiling and sighed in peace. It’s white as snow and white as peace.
However, wasn’t the color of the ceiling different? Wasn’t it yellow? Or was it green? She closed her eyes back tightly as she tried to relax her mind. As if the world was against her peace, she heard a loud noise.
"SHUT UP Aryan!"
There was an ear-piercing female voice coming from the living area. She sounded angry and almost tortured. Siya’s heart sped up and she opened her eyes wide. She didn’t like loud noises or people screaming at each other. In fact, she hated anything that came anywhere near the word ‘violent.’ Funny, because her brother and her whole family was anything but non-violent.
With a darkened mood, she looked up to see the golden ceiling of the corridor. Yes, it was golden and it was ugly. As gloomy as ever.
- x - x - x- x -x - x -
Ron huffed and puffed as he knocked on the door leading to Harry’s office.
Harry, who was looking at a case file on a Death Eater hiding in the muggle world, looked up from his work and raised his eyebrows at him, “What happened?” Harry asked.
“It’s Hermione!” Ron sputtered out, his hands going in every direction as he tried explaining. “She’s gone.”
Harry looked stunned for a second but then slowly gave an approving smirk. Hermione is gone. Like she should have, a long time ago. Harry thought darkly.
- x - x - x - x - x -
“Of course, you will come back running! This loser middle-class attitude won’t give you any of the riches you need to lead a good life!” Aryan exclaimed, looking smugly at Riddhima.
Riddhima felt shameful but angry at Aryan and Ishani standing in the room. There was a smirk on their faces as if they were silently laughing at her. What were they made of? How could they treat her like trash just because she had less money than them?!
"This 'untouchable' act? Really? You think I don’t see you playing ‘hard to get’ with Vansh and me?” Aryan laughed. “Think again.”, he said, breathing dangerously close to her. Riddhima looked humiliated and angry. She wanted to slap Aryan, wanted to curse him and his whole god damn family! But Kabir's injured body kept resurfacing in her mind and so she stood still and endured it all.
- x - x - x - x - x -
There was a loud pop, like a cork being pulled out of a bottle and a young woman with bushy hair appeared in the middle of the room. She looked around, alarmed at the unfamiliarity of the place. The paintings on the walls, the decor, the carpets everything hinted at an Oriental or Indian theme. She had read about these strange designs and patterns in "Magical Masters: Artists and Art from India and the Far East." She scowled, thoroughly irritated with Ron. Six years in Hogwarts and the Great War later, he could still mess up spells with incorrect wand movements and incantations. Now, where was she??!!!
She twirled her wand around herself and a trickling sensation from the top of her head moving down her back told her the disillusionment charm had worked. Satisfied that no one could see her now, she decided to explore her surroundings a little. She heard a loud voice coming from somewhere above and set off in that direction, her curiosity thoroughly piqued.
- x - x - x- x - x -
"What's the matter? You can stop the damsel in distress routine now, Vansh is not here", said Aryan as he moved a step closer to Riddhima. Ishani watched him with a smirk. She had despised Riddhima since the minute she laid eyes on her and she enjoyed her humiliation now, thank you very much.
"That's enough, don't come any closer", warned Riddhima just as she felt Aryan's hand snake around her. Revulsion coursed through her along with something else. Something she couldn't recognize; something dark and powerful. Before she knew it her hand slashed through the air and Aryan staggered back, his lip cut and bleeding.
"You're going to pay for that", Aryan hissed and turning around he stormed out. Ishani looked at Riddhima loathingly before following him. She hesitated a minute at the doorway but then continued on silently.
Riddhima stood stunned and looked at her hand. She hadn't slapped him. Or had she? In her anger and fear, her hand had probably acted on its own accord. "Well, he deserved it. At least now, he might stop pestering me" , she thought, breathing a sigh of relief.
Hidden due to the disillusionment charm, Hermione had witnessed the entire exchange from the doorway. She smiled to herself. She had ended up exactly where she needed to be. And her work here had just begun.
- x - x - x - x - x -
“I can't believe this! How dare that low-class girl slap you Aryan?” cried Ishani, throwing her hands up in the air dramatically while Aryan sat quiet, his eyes burning in extreme fury and humiliation. He spoke nothing but only he knew what plans ran in his evil mind.
“Aryan, are you even listening?” asked Ishani, irked by his passiveness.
“I am.” spoke up Aryan finally as he ran fingers through his hair. “I'm listening to you and I very well know what to do now. I'll make sure that Riddhima regrets what she did to me! All you have to do is, stay by my side and enjoy the game.”
Ishani had no idea of his plan but the way he said it, with that devilish grin playing on his lips, she knew one thing; that Riddhima was in trouble, big trouble.
- x - x - x - x - x -
Siya sat looking out the open window wondering why things were going haywire in the otherwise calm house, lately. Sighing, she turned to close the window, when suddenly a little bird flew in and got caught between the window and the seal. The blood sprayed out on Siya’s face, and she screamed.
- x - x - x - x - x -
"Help!!!” Riddhima was absolutely stunned when she heard someone scream as she walked past the old storeroom. “Isn't it Ishani's voice”, she thought as she anxiously walked up to the door of the storeroom and tried to catch a glimpse of what was going on. “Yes, Ishani treated her badly but if she was in trouble, she should be helped”, thought Riddhima as she entered the storeroom.
The storeroom was an absolute disaster, filled with nothing but broken furniture, old curtains, and artifacts, and all these were covered in layers and layers of cobweb and dust. No one usually entered the room and in reality, Riddhima was planning to sneak in whenever possible to see if she could find something, some evidence.
She walked forward rubbing her nose in irritation due to the dust and craned her neck to see where Ishani was.
And then she heard the door close behind her with a thud. She quickly turned only to find Aryan and Ishani at the door, smirking at each other. In that instant, she could sense trouble, but mustering up all her courage, she quietly asked “What...What are you guys doing here? Ishani, I heard you scream, what was that?”
“Oh my God, I never knew it was so easy to fool you!” laughed Ishani as the duo paced towards Riddhima.
“What? I don't get you?” Riddhima muttered in a panicked state while Aryan grasped her elbow from behind, making her hiss in pain.
Riddhima's heart was beating in panic. She screwed her eyes shut in disgust as Aryan moved dangerously close to her, his barely two-day-old stubble pricking the skin of her cheek. How she wished for a miracle, some savior to come to her rescue from thin air?
Boom! With the flash of sharp light, the trio's attention shifted to the other side of the storeroom, where the black curtains were moving a bit. As they watched, a female figure clad in a long hooded cloak appeared with a stick in her right hand and her face bowed down. Aryan's eyes widened in shock while Ishani and Riddhima were more than surprised.
“Hey! Who are you?” asked Ishani while the figure lifted her head and removed the hood off of her head revealing her face and blond bushy hair. Aryan loosened his grip over Riddhima in shock and she took it as a chance to run near Hermione, with whom she felt strangely safe. Hermione looked at her and smiled in affirmation while Riddhima looked at her in confusion.
“This is going to be so much fun,” said Hermione to herself while Aryan tried moving forward, raising his hand, probably in an attempt to hit the intruder. Hermione, however, waved her wand in the nick of time and Aryan ended up tripping under his feet.
“Not so soon!” said Hermione as she waved her wand again and this time, a wisp of thick smoke surrounded Aryan. As everyone watched over, Aryan shrank in size and turned to a shade of black, as the hair grew lushly over his body. From gaining a pointed head and tail to replacement of his hands by forelimbs and legs by hind limbs, everything was too quick for the naked eye to comprehend. In the bat of an eye, Aryan was turned into something else, to be precise, a little ugly rat.
"Well, that’ll teach you a lesson! " Hermione said while Ishani’s jaw dropped open in shock watching her brother's state. Riddhima's state was no different. She was finding it hard to believe her eyes! Aryan, the bully had turned into a rat! How did that happen?
The rat, meanwhile, watched the crowd for a good two seconds and then ran under a table as Hermione turned to Riddhima.
“We need to talk!” she said while Ishani quickly reached her and turned her around harshly.
“You filthy blondie! What have you done to him?”
“Uh oh! That was offensive!” Hermione said as she shook her head. “Verto Alba” she cursed as she pointed her wand at Ishani's hair and in no time, each strand of Ishani's hair started turning grey.
“Oh my God!!! ” cried Ishani as she held the loose strands of her white hair lying over her shoulder in panic and quickly ran to the broken mirror at the corner of the store to get a better view.
“A woman with her reflection stared back at her in horror. But in the place of her expertly highlighted and styled waves lay limp strands of snow-white hair.
“What have you done to me? Who are you?” she wailed, as she reached Hermione and shook her shoulders hard.
“Sorry but I've no more time to deal with you," said Hermione and casually waved her wand while Ishani fell unconscious and the next moment waving her wand again, she disappeared from the room much to Riddhima's surprise. She felt her head throbbing. The mysterious woman, whoever she was, came in an instant and left in even less time. “Is she even real”, thought Riddhima, as she looked at an unconscious Ishani.
- x - x - x - x - x -
The figure lying ahead of her looked dead. She poked a finger on the face but the body limply rolled over and now there was blood in its place. The blood made her freeze. Her head started throbbing and she looked around for help, but there was no one. The pain and anger from the morning felt too raw. She saw a scabby rat pass by her and she grabbed the metal stick from the side in protection but the rat only scurried away quickly, without much attention to her. There was no one to see her. No one to see what she’ll do next either. Lifting up the metal stick, she shifted herself and pushed the seemingly dead body to the side. The blood was everywhere on the light floor, but the room in itself was dark so it was hard to see. Maybe she could just grab a few towels and wipe it clean before anyone comes in? She could then pretend it never happened. Yes. “That’s exactly what I’ll do”, Siya thought happily as she rolled herself out to grab a few towels. The said dead body though, looked on curiously, chirping away happily on the windowsill.
- x - x - x - x - x -
"If there was ever an afternoon which seemed like out of a parallel universe, it had to be this one", thought Riddhima, still reeling from all that she had seen. Who was that woman, where had she come from, where had she gone to, and most importantly had she really turned Aryan into a RAT?” Riddhima giggled thinking of Aryan, the rat, and Ishani looking like the wicked witch from Disney fairytales. Whoever the mystery woman was, she, Riddhima, owed her a big debt of gratitude.
"Bullies are only as strong as you let them be", said a voice behind her, and Riddhima turned around to find the bushy-haired woman standing near the door. "You can't always have someone to protect you, and you don't need anyone too. You, your nerve, and wit are all you need. The day you stop being afraid and stand up to a bully like Ishani, she will cease to have any power over you. Trust me, I've faced it too", Hermione chuckled as she remembered how she had shown one Draco Malfoy exactly what she, aka Hermione Granger was made of.
Before Riddhima could ask her any of the 20 questions she had in her mind, something hot streaked by the side of her ear. "Protego", screamed Hermione, and Riddhima was thrown backward. She hit the wall hard and wincing in pain, she opened her eyes to see Aryan and the bushy hair woman facing each other 10 feet apart, their hands outstretched and pointing something resembling a stick at each other."Harry was right then", muttered Hermione, her wand arm steady as she pointed it at Aryan. She remembered briefly her conversation with Harry and Ron.
"The Auror office has been hunting down missing death eaters since the war and we now have intel that there's one hiding in India. In Mumbai. We can't have any Aurors disappearing now to track him down. That might lead to questions and leaks. I feel it's best if you go to Hermione. You're in a different department where you travel frequently. There will be no alarms raised if you disappear suddenly".
"Harry you know I don't mind going, but what story do we put out to cover our tracks", asked Hermione.
"I'll make you disappear", said Ron suddenly. Harry and Hermione looked at him, eyebrows raised.
"I mean to say I’d "accidentally" make you disappear. I'll get a spell wrong and poof, no Hermione", he grinned.
"That's brilliant Ron", said Hermione beaming at him. "Always the tone of surprise", Ron said dryly, rolling his eyes at Harry who grinned at them both.
"I was looking forward to facing the great Harry Potter one day", said Aryan softly, his eyes gleaming as they faced Hermione. "But what is this? Has he sent you? Did he think that a witch and a mudblood can defeat me", Aryan cackled, his eyes now alight with mad anger. His wand sliced through the air but his spell was deflected easily. His eyes widened fractionally while Hermione smiled. "It's time now for you to see what this witch and mud blood can do", she said pleasantly deflecting another spell. Wands swished and flicked now, so fast that they were no more than a blur at times. Aryan was a powerful wizard who knew a vast array of dark spells. Not for nothing though, was Hermione the brightest witch of her time. She slashed her wand and before Aryan could react his wand was blasted out of his hand and he was thrown backward. Thick ropes bound him from head to toe and he lay on the floor unable to move an inch as Hermione towered over him, her wand held at his throat.
“WHAT ARE YOU DOING! You’ll kill him!”
Hermione heard Ishani’s voice from somewhere, but she didn’t pay attention as she pressed her wand further on Aryan’s neck and his face turned red.
“Let me go! Please!” Hermione heard another voice, but it wasn’t coming from Aryan who could barely move any part of his face, but it was the sound of a young girl. Suddenly, as her vision blurred, Hermione found herself consumed in darkness. It was so dark, Hermione could barely see her own hand now. Did Aryan send her to another universe?
“I won’t tell anyone! P-please, I-” Slowly Hermione’s eyes adjusted to the darkness and she found herself standing next to a young girl. It was dark and Hermione could hardly see anything, but the desperate plea and fear in her voice were visible. It looked like there was another person laying next to the girl, with clothes torn apart.
“P-please, d-don’t hurt me” the young girl begged with tears streaming down her face and her loud sob tearing the silence of the night. Hermione felt numb. She wanted to reach out but it was as if her body couldn’t move at all.
There was a loud thud and she saw a man lifting a long rod and bringing it down next to the young girl. Hermione could hardly see the horror of the scene with the blur in her vision, her throbbing head and the darkness of the night, but there laid another person next to the girl, with their clothes torn apart and blood gushing out. Hermione tried reaching out to the girl but as if the girl was very far away from her, her hand could only reach the empty night. She wanted to protect the girl who looked like she would be killed at any moment if not saved. The boy chuckled, looking at the figure laying on the ground. He looked like Aryan, same hair, same figure, but at the same time, a very different voice. However, the resemblance was enough to make Hermione see red as she lunged at the boy.
“ENOUGH!” She cried loudly and grabbed the neck of the guy. “STOP PLAYING YOUR GAMES! STOP HURTING PEOPLE!” Her scream was heavy with distraught and pain as she caught hold of his throat.
“Have you gone nuts?! What are you doing!” Ishani screamed at the woman choking Aryan, but that only resulted in the opposite as the woman increased her pressure on his throat. “Let her g-go. Let them go.” The woman repeated in a low and dangerous voice. Eyes streaming, her vision blurred, she couldn’t see who was in front of her anymore. Her mind was spinning but she was clear on one thing- this man was the worst. He’d hurt her and hurt others she cared about. He’d rip her apart the second she lets him go. Before he killed her too, she had to kill him. “Let me go!” She screamed at Aryan.
Suddenly, her hands that were choking Aryan, not a second ago, were now hanging in the mid-air.
“-iya! Siya! SIYA! What are you doing!” With that, Vansh pulled a red-eyed Siya away from Aryan who was laying blue on the floor, his eyes almost popping out. Siya tried fighting and reached out to him. He HAD to die today! He’d try to kill her again if she didn’t kill him. However, Vansh was stronger and he pulled her away and made her sit on the dark sofa nearby. Ishani and Aryan’s mother ran to him and helped him up, while Riddhima stood wide-eyed outside of the room. Everyone was in Siya’s room now. They’d all seen her try to kill the man they all cherished.
Siya looked around like a cornered animal, her breath coming out in harsh sobs. Hermione seemed to be fading away. She looked down at her hands; they were empty where minutes before she had held a wand. Siya’s eyes hurriedly went to the window that had the bird’s blood. But it was all clean now. Like it never happened. Had any of it happened? Feeling a heavy stare on her, Siya’s gaze went to Riddhima who stood next to the door. She was watching her. She was carrying a blank face, but her eyes hid secrets. Dark secrets. Just like Siya’s eyes did. Siya felt a sort of excitement as she looked at Riddhima who simply stood there staring back at her. Her presence was chilly, making everyone else look like the background of a dark movie.
THUD.
A loud noise came and Siya stared at Riddhima in shock. Riddhima had a hand on her chest as the blood sprayed out from the hole there like a jet spray. Her blank face from a few minutes ago was filled with horror that mirrored Siya's own, as Siya felt salt in her mouth and shooting pain in her own chest. The two girls stared at each other from across the room, and the mahogany clock outside slowed down to a stop, like a bad omen.
Edited by Tris007 - 4 years ago
The wind was heavy and the weather was stormy
(After a lot of scratching and plotting and more and more )
This story gave some dimension to bland TV characters. 
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