Written for Hogwarts: Care of Magical Creatures - Assignment 10

Words: 808

'10 Characters, 10 Prompts': Astoria Greengrass/Cool (As in the temp.)

A small red car stood in idle by the side of the road. The driver was sitting inside, her hands almost pressed against the vents, letting the warm air rush over her skin. Her eyes scanned the pavement outside, running up and down the street, searching for any signs of danger. She let out a breath as a shiver coursed down her spine.
"Don't be ridiculous," the girl chastised herself. After a few seconds, and some encouraging words, the girl opened her car door and locked it behind her with a loud click. The night was dark, a mist hung in the air as Astoria Greengrass made the short dash from her car to her front door. A loud growl caused her to stop in her tracks. The door was a few feet from her yet her legs could not move. She looked behind her, her heart pounding. She prayed that all she saw was a large dog, or even a lion would be better than what she imagined. She had no such luck.

Towering over her was a man, but he wasn't a man. His face was distorted and hair grew on almost every possible patch of skin. Astoria gulped and let out a small squeak.
"Please, let me go," she whispered. The creature smirked, his hand grasping her upper arm. He leaned in, his nose pressed against her neck. She heard him take a deep breath, taking in her smell. His lips moved to her ear as he growled back.
"Run," and he dragged her arm, directing her in the opposite direction of her house. Without having to be told twice, Astoria ran as fast as she could, dropping her bag as she did. She knew this was all a game to him, she knew he could catch up. Her wand was in her pocket, but before she could even attempt to reach it she felt a body press against her and she was falling.

They hit the ground with a crack, and Astoria knew that something had broken, but that was the least of her worries now. A scream ripped through her as she felt stabbing pains in her stomach. His claws ripped at her abdomen as his teeth aimed for her neck. Tears streamed down her face as the pain over whelmed her. She felt close to fainting, her vision was rimmed with black, and she knew that the end would be easier like that. She had almost let go, given up, when she heard a voice.

"Don't touch her," a man yelled his arm outstretched. In his hand he held a thin piece of wood. Astoria looked at him, her heart elated. She strained to keep her eyes open. The man looked at her, a pained expression covering his hard features. She kept her eyes on him, it was the only thing keeping her awake. The werewolf sniggered and pressed his teeth to her neck again. Astoria screamed, and so did the man. She saw a flash of red and the werewolves' lips left her neck. The creature charge towards the man, but he looked ready for it. She watch the wizard send spell after spell until the creature crumpled to the floor and stilled. Astoria whimpered in relief and suddenly she saw black.

The piercing pain that had covered her body had lessened to a dull thud. She heard a voice but she found it hard to do anything other than breathe. Finally she was able to open her eyes, and she was met with the view of a beautiful man, his platinum-blond hair fell around his face. She looked straight into his piercing grey eyes and a calm came over her.

"Hey! Are you okay?" He whispered urgently, but she felt too tired to answer. Her eyes ran over his entire face; she recognised him from school. He was a few years above her. As she stared at him, his name came to her. Draco. She managed to shake her head, remembering that he had asked her a question.
"I'm going to help you." He said, drawing her into his arms. Astoria nodded, resting her head against his shoulder with a wince and a sighed.
"What's your name?" He asked softly. She opened her mouth and a groan escaped her lips before she managed to mutter:
"Astoria."
"It's going to be okay... Astoria," he whispered soothingly, lifting her off the floor and disapperating.

The night became silent after the 'pop' finished reverberating through the street. The werewolf's body lay on the pavement, a discarded handbag and a pool of blood a few feet from it. A few minutes later the scene was cleaned up by two Ministry officials. One of them picked up the bag and packed all of the scattered items back into before, they too, apparated from the street.