Disclaimer: I do not own anything here except the plot. All else belongs to J. K. Rowling.
Chapter 1: A Shadowed Path
Leaves trembled on the trees, swaying gently to the rhythm of the cool breeze. A golden leaf relented its grip on a branch and fell, floating haphazardly toward the leaf littered ground. It landed softly, with a hardly noticeable touch, attaching itself to the blanket of multicolored leaves. A moment later, the leaf quietly crackled under the pressure of a foot landing on it.
The foot's owner continued walking, smiling to herself as she listened to the music of the crunching leaves. Her dark brown hair bounced against her shoulders as she stepped along the familiar path. She occasionally, and with an air of one on their guard yet trying to seem casual, inspected her surroundings. Her bright green eyes shone brilliantly as she took in what lay around her.
Massive trees dominated the skies, filtering the light of the sun through their branches. Gnarled stumps and rotten logs were positioned near the path, popping up every so often. A more common, and comforting, sight, was the beautiful stream that meandered along side the trail. Its gurgling voice sang to the melody of the forest, adding silent lyrics to the myriad of voices. It created a haunting, yet startlingly peaceful song.
Lost in the wordless song of the forest, she did not notice a Shadow following her every foot step, stalking her with malicious intent. Only when the Shadow, too intent on its prey to pay attention, accidentally came too close, did she take note. It breathed raggedly just behind her, breaking her out of her reverie and causing her to whip around with wide eyes. Her right hand rushed to her pocket which was concealing her wand; her only means of defense. With her eyes flashing warily, she took in the place where the Shadow had been mere moments before. Her heart thumped wildly against her fear constricted chest as she scoured the seemingly empty landscape.
The rest of her body remained stiffly poised, ready to spring into action at the slightest hint of danger. She stayed like that for many long, drawn out seconds; the only movement her eyes flickering rapidly and her chest rising and falling in quick, shallow breaths. After finally confirming that therehad been something there but nothing was there now, she slowly relaxed her tense posture and stood upright.
Her hand, which had been frozen above her pocket, fell limply to her side. The rest of her body started to relax as well, releasing the tension that had built as she reluctantly anticipated a fight. Nothing had come but instead of reassuring her that maybe she had just imagined the noise, it only made her all the more wary.
She looked up through the sparse foliage of the trees to see darkness rapidly overcoming the last weak rays of the setting sun. Grudgingly, she decided to go back to the castle, knowing that it was not safe to be alone in the forest at night. With a sigh, she turned onto the path that would lead her back out of the forest, treading lightly with a cautious gait.
After a while, she realized that, being as deep in the forest as she was, she was not going to be able to make it to the castle before morning. Her pace slowed as she came to this conclusion, moving with less urgency and more of a patiently steady pace.
Hours passed as she continued along the path, letting her senses guide her in the gentle light of the glowing moon. Then, as the moon began to retreat beneath the lightening sky, she saw the edge of the forest up ahead from the glow. Even though she had not seen or heard anything else of a suspicious nature, she still remained tense and wary. Her suspicions proved correct; for, as she walked to the edge of the forest and hesitated, the Shadow made its move.
The Shadow had been following her the whole time, having hastily melted into the shadows when she turned around. It had merely been waiting for its opportunity to attack. And now, as she hesitated, the Shadow bore down on her. The Shadow's tensed muscles rippled as it crouched, preparing to attack. It pounced powerfully, landing on her with its mouth opened wide to reveal glistening fangs.
The young witch, having not had any warning, was unable to get out her wand to defend herself before the Shadow ripped into her; knocking her flat on her back in the process. The thud from her fall was accompanied by the sound of air rushing from her lungs in a hiss as the breath was knocked out of her. Her cry of pain and fear was muffled as the Shadow sunk its fangs into her throat. Excruciating pain shot through her as the flesh of her throat was torn open. Hot blood dripped from the open wound and the Shadow growled, relishing in the taste. The girl struggled to gasp air into her crushed lungs, slowly becoming unable to breathe under the pressure of the Shadow and its grip on her throat. Her sight begins to turn black due to lack of air and the agonizing pain of having her throat torn open.
She was now totally unable to use any sort of defense against her attacker due to her natural strength failing her and the pain she was in. Every drop of blood that fell from her terrible wound seemed to be draining her of that strength. The world was becoming dark; the pain starting to be smothered by the welcoming blanket of death. But, as luck would have it -or was it fate?- she had just barely enough energy to stay alive. Just enough fight left in her to throw of the suffocating blanket of death and open her eyes.
Though, when she opened her eyes, it was still no better than if she had left them closed. The Shadow's dark, monstrous body blocked out the sight of everything else. Like a sea of blackness with no view of the other side. And as she felt the Shadow loosening its grip, she knew that it was not about to free her. It was about to deal the finishing blow. She was about to die at the fangs of this terrible creature that had been toying with her for the past five minutes. That was how long had passed; only five minutes. Five minutes in which she had been unable to fight back. Five whole minutes of excruciating torture and now she was going to die without having given her attacker even a single blow.
The Shadow released its grip on her throat and pulled back to deliver the final, killing blow. As it did so, she felt a fury such as she had never felt before. Fury that, though she knew she would have lost anyway, she had not had the chance to fight back. Fury for the fact that this creature was killing her for absolutely no reason. And fury for the fact that it had attacked in a secretive way. A secretive way which gave her no chance to retaliate; no chance to prove to it that she was not as helpless as she may have seemed.
Her fury boiled within her, clawing its way up her mutilated throat to escape from her lips in a silent, twisted snarl. The fury kicked her survival instincts into action and she made a last ditch effort to make it out of the fight alive. Without even realizing it, in a final act of desperation, she transformed into her cat animagus self. She shrank, fur sprouting along her body, shedding her heavy, blood soaked clothes.
The Shadow lunged at her throat once more but her cat agility allowed her to twist out of the way. She rolled to the side as the Shadow howled in rage that it had missed the killing blow. As the Shadow turned to her with a look of fury on its remarkably human like yet still dark face, she managed to stand shakily on her four cat legs. She knew that, even as a cat, there was still no way for her to win. With exhaustion threatening to overcome her and her senses dulled by pain, there was little chance that she would even be able to land a blow on the Shadow to make her escape from death be worth it.
Yet still, she would try. And at least now she would go down standing, fighting to the last breath. The Shadow fell upon her with deadly intent, aiming another bite at her already torn throat. She leaped to the side, avoiding the killing blow but collapsing as her unsteady legs refused to hold her weight.
The Shadow, having passed her when she dodged, turned back to her with its pure black eyes narrowed in passionate fury. It threw itself on her back, pinning her to the ground and lowering its muzzle to her delicate neck. As it held its jaws open just barely above her neck, she felt its hot, rancid breath billowing out. Her blood pounded in her ears as her heart thumped wildly, sending adrenaline coursing through her system. The energy that accompanied the burst of adrenaline gave her just enough of a boost to make a fast move.
Using her cat instincts, she judged her situation in a heartbeat. She felt the Shadow's weight holding her down lightly and realized a plan; the only plan she had and the only possible way for her to escape. Using her sudden energy to carry out the plan, she scrambled forward, using her outstretched claws to pull herself ahead. With a jerk, she burst forward, bringing her neck out of reach of the Shadow's deadly jaws. A small bud of hope blossomed in her chest as she no longer felt the hot breath of the Shadow. Maybe she could make it out of this after all...
But it was not to be. For the Shadow had not given up after she had moved her neck out of its reach, it had only shifted targets. Before she could move any further, it struck her back with lightning accuracy and ferocity. The Shadow plunged its fangs deep into her body, biting down with painful precision. It snapped her spine clean in half, creating a sickeningly loud cracking noise. Pain exploded along her back, causing her to open her mouth in a cry of pain, her neck arched in silent agony. Blood flowed freely from the fracture on her back, mingling with the blood of her throat wound.
The Shadow growled lowly in satisfaction, the sound muffled by its mouth being full of her fur. It then lifted her by its grip on her back and threw her against a nearby tree. For a moment, while soaring freely through the air, she felt as if she were flying. But then, reality returned and she slammed into the tree, causing the already excruciating pain of her spine to intesify. She slid down the tree, slumped in defeat. She was no longer fighting; she was now simply waiting for death to take her and release her from the grip of her terrible pain.
Lying limply on the ground, she watched through half closed eyes as the Shadow approached. The Shadow had an air of triumphant satisfaction about it as it came, taking its time to lift each foot with exaggerated care. She knew that it was enjoying its power over her, savoring its victory and dragging out her agonized misery. Then, finally, the Shadow reached her. It raised its head purposefully, preparing to truly deliver the death blow this time.
Its eyes locked on her already torn and bleeding throat; the target for which it had been striving this whole time. And as its head came slowly, almost gracefully, toward her with the lips drawn back to reveal deadly sharp fangs, she felt that, though she was going to die, she should at least die with dignity. To have a quick end, a flash of fangs and it would be over, that was the way she wanted to be finished. Not like this, with the Shadow taunting her, drawing out the seconds until the killing blow was delivered.
So with the last of her strength, she raised her front right leg up to her throat, blocking the delicately thin skin from the deadly jaws of the Shadow. Her defensive move blocked the Shadow's killing bite from her throat. Instead, the deadly jaws locked themselves around her leg. With effortless grace, the Shadow snapped down upon the limb, breaking it with a snap. She had not the energy to cry out in pain; she barely had enough strength left to feel the increased agony. All she knew was that the suffering would end soon. Once she was dead, which she surely would be in a moment, it would all end: the pain, the suffering, the downright agony that she was going through. And that in itself kept her from focusing on her broken body's perpetual cycle of pain.
She was right about one thing. The Shadow was going to kill her. It reared up in destructive fury, enraged that it had, once again, missed its intended target. The Shadow's eyes narrowed as it balanced on its hind feet, looming over her tiny, broken body. Its mouth curved into a snarl, displaying its impressive array of lethal fangs. Just as the Shadow was gathering power in its front legs to make a final, crushing blow, the sun's rays pierced the last of the night's shadows.
A beam of pure, untainted sunlight fixed itself unwaveringly upon the Shadow's twisted face. Instantly, as if the sun burned it, the Shadow fell sideways to the ground, landing mere inches away from the cat. The Shadow howled in fury, writhing as its body vanished like mist under the concentrated power of the sun. Soon only its eyes were left, shining with hatred and fury; the pupils glowing like hot coals in the darkness of its human like eyes. But then, even those vanished, making it seem as though the Shadow was never there. The only real evidence that it had been was the torn and bloodied body of the small cat that it had been so intent on killing.
As she weakly lifted her head in astonishment, her whole body shook with the effort of it, sending spasms of pain along the length of her exhausted figure. However tired and hurt she was, she didn't drop her head until she was sure that the Shadow was gone. Her head dropped with a soft thud to her paws when she realized that the Shadow was truly gone and not coming back... At least for now.
She was too drained of energy and full of pain to think properly. Her mind was hazy and just couldn't grasp the concept that the Shadow was likely to come back; or that if she went to sleep, she might not wake up again. All she wanted right now was for it all to end: the pain, the fear, the fatigue; all of it she wanted to end. So she did the only thing she really could do at that moment. She gave in to the darkness and let unconsciousness claim her in its firm, yet blissfully pain free, grip.