This is my entry into the QLFC Season 6, Round 2. Beater 1 for Pride of Portree. The theme this week was Jurassic Fever, and my prompt was - Mosasaur: Write a story set near the water (such as The Black Lake, the cave Riddle hid his Horcrux in, Shell Cottage, etc.)

My options prompts were: (colour) light grey and (setting) the Forbidden Forest.

In canon, Pandora Lovegood does not have a maiden name. I have given her the name of Pandora Boot for purposes of this story, and placed her two years ahead of the Marauders.

Word Count: 1,561

Brilliant, huge, beta-love goes to my fellow Pride teammates: Story Please, sekdaniels, Le soleil brille pas pour toi. Thank you!

Gifts

Huffing, Pandora Boot hiked her way through the thick undergrowth of the Forbidden Forest. It was her favorite pastime, and since she was in her final year at Hogwarts, she had vowed to herself to take advantage as often as she could. Pandora often had difficulty in the shared dorms of Ravenclaw tower. She had the dual gift and curse of both the second sight and Empathic abilities. The Sight was easier for her to control, particularly after the Divination professor had recognized her for what she was. Her Empathic powers, however, were only controllable when Pandora was alone. This was one of the many reasons she often found herself in the Forbidden Forest.

Coming to a clearing, Pandora stopped; on the far side was a lone unicorn foal, sniffing flowers and then moving to chase a butterfly. She smiled at the sight. The unicorn was silver, and his horn was still golden. Sunlight streamed through the trees intermittently making the unicorn appear a dappled grey color. The young unicorn danced around the clearing, and the view of it filled Pandora's heart with happiness.

This was what she loved about the Forbidden Forest. Calling it Forbidden made it sound so foreboding, and yet it wasn't. Not at all. Pandora held out her hand as the unicorn trotted toward her. The foal sniffed her hand, then promptly sneezed and scared itself. Pandora smiled at his antics, and when he started trotting through the undergrowth, she decided to follow him.

Generally, Pandora avoided any clear paths in the forest and made her way through the underbrush, often taking an animal track instead of a human-forged trail. As she followed the unicorn, with the golden sunlight filtered through the trees, Pandora could almost believe she was the only human ever to enter this sacred place. Closing her eyes and breathing deeply, Pandora locked all of her dark thoughts away for the afternoon. Being outside, in nature, was always her happy place and she was determined to enjoy it.

When she opened her eyes, the unicorn was gone, and she was standing on the edge of a small pond. Pandora frowned. That pond hadn't been there a moment ago, and there was something odd about it. It was tiny, almost a large puddle, but overgrown and choked on the far end with weeds. She pulled her wand out, just to be safe, and then knelt down, peering into the water.

There was a break in the trees overhead, and as Pandora looked down into the murky grey water, the sun shone brilliantly back at her, almost blindingly. Frowning, Pandora reached a hand out, almost touching the water, before something made her pull back. Her grandmother had told her of walking ponds before. The sudden appearance of this pond, made her wonder if that's what this was. According to her grandmother, walking ponds only appeared in times of great need. Pandora didn't think she was in any sort of dire need, but perhaps someone else was? Strange, to be sure, but Pandora was a witch. The Wizarding World was a strange and wondrous place.

Decided, she stood and stepped forward, splashing into the shallows of the pond. There was a swirl of magic, and suddenly she felt like she was being turned inside out and squeezed through a tube. It felt a bit like Apparition and a bit like traveling via Portkey at the same time. She whirled through space so quickly she didn't even have the chance to scream. When she landed, it was flat on her back, and her breath was knocked out of her. Pandora gasped for a moment until she recovered. When she finally did, she sat up slowly and looked around. The sun ducked behind a cloud, tinging the sky a light grey. She wasn't surprised to find herself in the shallows of a lake. The magic of a walking pond was in its water.

The landing had rattled her, and she felt somewhat dizzy. Slowly, she came to kneel, and that's when she realized she wasn't alone. Sitting on a rock several feet down the lake was a boy. Pandora cocked her head; there was something familiar about him.

Pandora stood and glanced around. If she wasn't mistaken, she was in Black Lake, just a few miles from where she had been in the Forbidden Forest, which extended to this side of the lake and was at her back. Not such a far jump via the walking pond she'd stumbled across. Relief flooded her when she spied Ravenclaw tower in the distance. Turning her gaze back to the boy, she studied him.

He had black hair that fell to his shoulders and was thin. His clothing was not new, and the black of his robes was faded to a dull grey. His shoulders shook, and Pandora's heart thudded when she realized he must be crying. She felt a weight settle heavily in her chest at seeing the boy's obvious distress. The grief poured off him in waves that threatened to overwhelm Pandora. Hogwarts was confusing enough, with all of the teenage hormones, but rarely did she come across someone with such a depth of despair like this.

Pandora sighed and ran a hand through her wet hair. Realizing, she was still standing in the lake, Pandora walked the few feet to the shore and set about drying herself. When she'd completed the chore, the boy was still sitting on his rock. Desperation was still seeping off of him. She couldn't leave him here. He looked to only be a fifth year and a small one at that. She didn't feel like she was very good with people, but the walking pond had brought her here for a reason. So she walked the few yards to reach the rock outcropping and scrambled up them. Sitting directly next to him, she brought her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them.

"Leave me alone," he muttered through his tears, never raising his face. Pandora still wasn't sure who he was, but she could make out a Slytherin tie. Pursing her lips, Pandora chose to continue sitting next to the boy in silence. Perhaps he'd get used to her presence after a time. Maybe just being next to him would offer some sort of comfort. She hoped so, although the anguish rolling off of him had not lessened.

Close to thirty minutes later, the boy finally looked up, and Pandora got a look at his face for the first time. She had laid her head on her knees and had been gazing up at him. He had a hooked nose, and his eyes were red from crying.

"What do you want?" He sneered at her but didn't move.

"You were sad," Pandora replied. "Unimaginable sorrow was pouring off of you."

The boy narrowed his eyes at her and spat, "I don't need your help!"

Pandora shrugged."Perhaps not, however, something thought you might."

She gazed into his eyes and then felt her own cloud over as a vision swam before her. The vision spat out scene after scene of the boy in front of her becoming a man and joining a group of men all dressed in black with silver masks. Moments filled with blood and gore flashed before her eyes, and Pandora felt nauseous at what she was seeing. The scenes moved on too quickly for Pandora to parse them. Then suddenly, they stopped, and she saw the boy, older now, almost a man. He was crying in her vision too; clutching a pretty red-headed woman's body to his chest. There was only sorrow and grief in his future.

The boy shook Pandora's arm hard, and she felt the vision swim away. She shook her head to clear her thoughts and felt deep, profound heartache and loneliness on behalf of the boy.

"Tread carefully," Pandora whispered. "You know not what your future holds, but I see great desolation for you."

The boy stared at her, his face hardening, and Pandora sighed. He wouldn't heed her warning. His future was already set in stone.

"I don't need this," the boy muttered and stood quickly, stumbling his way down the rocks and hustling away from Pandora and back toward the castle, wiping his face as he went.

Pandora turned back to the lake as her tears made their way down her face. Sometimes she hated her gifts. She cried for the boy and the pain he would endure. She cried for herself and how ineffectual her gifts could be. And though the sunlight filtered through the cloud it still hid behind, turning everything a pretty light grey, Pandora could not enjoy it.

Instead, she cried for the horrors she'd just witnessed. Had the boy only listened to her, listened to the universe that had sent her to him, maybe the future wouldn't look so grim right now. It was apparent to Pandora that the walking pond that had appeared had been placed there by some higher power, drawing her to the boy. She wondered who he was and why he was going to be so crucial to the future. Sighing as a soft breeze kicked up off the lake, Pandora knew she'd find out soon enough.

The Wizarding World was about to become a lot scarier than it had ever been before.