No excuse, really. The only explanation is that real life and writer's block got the better of me.

Please enjoy.

Harry Potter/Sailor Moon

"The Lost and the Found"

Part I: "The Beginning"

Chapter 1

It took more than the smells accompanying burnt ozone and flesh to make her sick anymore, more than the smell of fresh death. It was the guilt that got her stomach to roll but not guilt of whom it was, now on the floor of the greenhouse of the evening-flourishing plants—but of whom it could have been. She swallowed her stomach back down where it belonged and licked her pale lips before reaching a trembling hand towards the previously dropped wand partially rolled under the gardener's table she had collapsed beside. With her wand in hand once more, she reached up for the ledge of the table and used it to help herself onto her feet, her legs shaky from shock.

She fixed her glasses and tucked her hair behind her ear, looking for any sign of the real reason she had to keep her wits about her. She licked her lips again and looked around with her wand at the ready, keeping an eye out for anyone else. She carefully stepped over an outstretched arm and a half bent leg, heading for the open greenhouse doors in hopes of slipping away undetected.

Thick glass shattered, forcing her take cover under the nearest gardener's bench, and her shock was momentarily pushed aside by annoyance. She huffed up her fringe and belly-crawled further down beneath the bench before she finally slipped out from under her temporary shelter. She bit the shaft of her wand and redid her loose ponytail, only taking her wand back in her hand when that task was completed.

This was the part she hated, the anxious cat-and-mouse game that always seemed to follow a felled body. She knew he didn't mind it, as he was the Cat in this….but that didn't mean she was necessarily the Mouse, even if he thought she was. She had to find some way of turning this around on him, give herself the advantage.

Unbidden, her head turned towards the two corpses with smoking hearts. She swallowed thickly, attempting to not let her panic overwhelm her. She still had to deal with the one that had set them on her, so definitely not the time to panic.

Suddenly there was a blast of wind threatening to knock her off her feet and a shower of sparks overhead. She barely had time to leap out of the way, using a shoulder roll to get back to her feet, as the overhead lights came down right where she had been, plunging the greenhouse into darkness and the wind instantly gone. She didn't dare stand up or light the tip of her wand to make a pretty target, keeping her back pressed against a supporting beam, and moistened her lips as her eyes adjusted to the dark in a few blinks.

If the bastard wanted her so badly, he was gonna have to work for it—just like all the times before.

A tingle throbbed (there's no other way to explain it) on her hand, reminding her that she had one advantage in this game, that she had literally cut from his hand. It was an easy matter to tip this chase into her favor, soft whispering and a chilling breeze out of nowhere telling her that it had worked, even if she wasn't seeing the immediate results. It didn't matter; she knew how this worked.

"Where are you, my dear?" He purred, his shadow passing the broken windows across the greenhouse. He gestured at the structure and the glass shattered, raining down on her. She cast a silent spell as she tightened into a protective ball, waiting for the sharp pieces of the fragile transparent barrier to stop falling around her.

She checked carefully; he couldn't see her for the gardening tables covered with plants on top and covering supplies underneath. She was careful and as silent as possible when she finally moved, silencing the glass that would be under each step she took. It was slow and anxiety-ridden but she made it to the other set of doors. She prodded the lock with her wand and heard the faint click that was overshadowed by his taunts and bizarre pet names.

Did he really think calling her a "withering gardenia" was going to get her to answer?

Silencing the hinges, she pushed one of the doors outward silently after lifting the bolt that helped keep it with its brother. She repeated the task with its twin and planned on crawling out in the small space she was making between them.

A plan that was almost ruined when a fierce blast of wind ripped through the center of the greenhouse.

She crouched close to the glass-covered ground and braced herself to keep from being knocked over. She sighed with relief when she wasn't discovered, but the doors were open to let her escape undetected. The last thing she did before dashing out of the greenhouse, was to make sure the bastard was still on that other side of the building. And when he turned, she bolted from the greenhouse, heading for the nearest tall structure—even if it was technically academic enemy territory.

She was barely feet out the doors when she heard it—a hiss in Latin, bringing a musty glitter taste (if glitter had a taste) to the back of her tongue. She swiftly cast a shield to protect herself from the spell, hoping it would hold. The spell and her shield connected, and a near physical blow to her gut was all the warning she had before she was sent flying back from the impact.

It wasn't the impact that caused heat to sear through her body and a gasp to leave her lips, but what she had landed on. At the edge of her vision, she saw the glass-imbedded limb of one of the bodies. She tried to take a breath but found herself choking, blood spilling over her lips and down her cheeks, her throat failing to swallow the liquid. She dimly heard the crush of glass underfoot as a pale light washed out the blurring edge of her vision, the source coming closer with each steady step forward.

A wizard…he had a wizard helping him. It was the only explanation for the reason why the magic-user stood off to the side while he (with his quick, crunching steps) came to the empty space near her waist and leaned over her, obviously delighting in her agony.

"My, my, my. Aren't we a sight to see, hmm?" He purred, watching her choke on the blood that spilled from her mouth. "I'd be surprised if you recover this time. Now that you're on your way out, maybe I ought to go visit your pretty little friend."

Anger flared through her body at the mention of the only person she considered her better half. He had now crossed the line by threatening her friend—and he was not going to leave this greenhouse without a reminder of just what she was capable of. With the anger giving her strength, she raised her arm and lashed out with a spell but she wasn't the only one with a wand.

"Sectumsempra!"

Heavy gashes ripped through her body as her arm dropped, her wand to clatter onto the shards slowly being engulfed by the steadily growing puddle of blood. With a silent wish for her friend's safety, she exhaled her final breath and closed her eyes as she reached for Death's unfurling offered hand.

I don't know what to say about this, other than it was pretty interesting to write. I think it turned out well, honestly.

Please let me know what you think. ^^