Chapter one, year five. The battle in the Department of Mysteries takes a terrifying turn and brings to surface many questions about a certain, unassuming girl.
This will be a two shot that goes between Chapters eight and nine in my Little Miss Potions series. For the sake of making it less work for me I'm posting it separatly, I'm also doing this because I'm not sure how everyone will perceive this idea. It does fall into the special powers category, which is something a lot of people don't like to see in OC's, but that came up simply because that's how I ended up planning things.
This chapter focuses on the battle, the next will have Snape in it, and should be posted in the next hour or so. For those of you who chose to read it, I hope you enjoy. =3
Chapter 1 – From the Door to the White
It was sheer insanity, this predicament that she was in. And she found it amazing how fast things could go awry, even when you expected and prepared for the worst. Even when you were on the very top of your guard things could sneak up on you, things in the darkness. Things you feared.
She had been only slightly hesitant to follow the others on this mission. She did not personally know Harry's God-Father, did not know Mr. Black, but she did know that he meant more to Harry than possibly anyone else. The man was as close to decent family as the boy had ever had and she didn't want him to lose that. For it to happen, she was sure, would damage him irreparably.
She could not in good conscience let that happen and so she had gone along. The ride to London on the thestrals had been invigorating, reminiscent of evenings with her aunt who raised a small herd of her own, and the only good part of the experience.
It worried her slightly how easy it had been to enter the Ministry. Her father worked there, though not in any of the more secreted places, and she was sure there should be more security. Things should not be open, they should not be able to pass through.
She stamped out her suspicions though, later she would wish she hadn't, and followed her friends through the corridors. Surely they were having the same thoughts, surely they knew the danger they were in since, had they not come to save Sirius from Voldemort? They were practically walking into the clutches of darkness.
It terrified her but she had to be strong.
The rotating doors made her head hurt, the room full of brains was disgusting and the room with the door nearly made her faint. She knew that door, knew it well and wanted nothing to do with it. When it had winked out of sight she was relieved and nearly forgot about it once they were among the room of Prophecy.
The initial confrontation was a blur at this point. Everything was a blur. She remembered vaguely Draco's father, her disappointment in him and dire worry for her friend, she recalled running, shouting, firing off every defensive and offensive charm she could, and the sound of breaking glass and muted screams as the towers of prophecies came crashing down.
Things started to melt together again, she was in the room with the door, so was Harry and Nevill and several death eaters. Members of the Order started to appear when hope seemed lost, Mr. Lupin was the only one she readily recognized, and they all started to fight. Or at least she thought they did, it sounded like it.
She hadn't really seen anything for a while. Her gaze was ever fixed on the door, on the veil fluttering so gently, beckoning curious minds to venture inside.
She was yards away but could hear the voices. Come here, come here they beckoned darkly. Come here little girl they called. And as the world went to war around her she could only stand, frozen in her spot, knowing that if she moved the her inside herself, the one that was not properly her, or perhaps really was, would fling her into the depths to be dragged away into that dark, dark place where the carbuncles roamed and the shadows were red.
Harry came close to the door, she only knew because he was suddenly in her line of vision, and she wanted to step forward and knock him away. He was too close! Didn't he know what hid behind there, didn't he know what darkness waited?
A curse was aimed at him and he fell back. She relaxed only a fraction, then tensed again. Mr. Black! He was so close, too close! Get away, get away!
She wanted to scream at him, wanted to cry, but before she could that wild eyed woman, the one named Lestrange, shot a curse his way and he fell back.
Slowly he started to disappear into the void, eyes growing vacant as death caught him.
Harry screamed out, tried to lunge for him, but Mr. Lupin held him back.
"No!" the shout was louder than anything in the room and she belatedly realized it had come from her, realized that her legs were moving, her feet flying across the black floor, towards that enticing door.
She could hear Harry calling to her, Mr. Lupin, all the other adults in the room, watching with desperate eyes as she sprinted towards the door of Death.
Harry started to sob as she sunk her arms in, flinging back the veil. Her mind came rushing back to her, all the pain she was feeling, rough pinpricks on her skin. This was where she was now, this was the present, that was the past, the future was starting to begin. Her head spun and she dove in deeper, cheek pressed against the chilling shadow barrier.
She caught Sirius by the hand, then by the arm, then started to pull and pull with all her might. Inside her head she could hear voices screaming, demanding she stop, pull back, threatening to drag her in. This is where you belong little girl! This is where you should be and now we have you!
She started to cry but didn't stop pulling. The things pulling on the other side tugged harder still and screamed.
She screamed back "no! No! You can't have him! Not this one! You can't have him! You can't have me!" At the top her lungs she screamed and it echoed in the silence. Everyone else had stopped their action, petrified by the spectacle before them.
"I rebuke you in the name of star light! I rebuke you in the name of fire! I rebuke you in the name of the white, the holy, the pure! Let him go! He is mine!"
A shriek rang out, piercing and shrill, several people in the room covered their ears and Sirius was suddenly let go. She went tumbling backward with him in her arms and they sprawl on the floor. From the door shadowed hands began to reach out and she shook visibly, trying to craw away from their groping, deformed fingers.
She pushed Sirius, breathing raggedly, back with her and sobbed, kicking out frantically when the darkness grabbed at her legs and feet. It had her for a moment, dragged her across the floor and she screamed louder, trying to twist away.
Her words were an incoherent babble of pleading, a continuous 'no, please no!' a sobbing 'I can't help it. Please stop it.' It seemed that since her objective, save Sirius, had been completed she had lost whatever driving force there was to her courage.
She was back to the terrified girl she had been only moments before, dreading the door, the things behind it, the darkness inside it.
"Help!" she choked out. "Please…" It was but a whimper.
A light consumed the room and the hands burst into inky shadows that fell to the floor with wet drops. A hissing scream left the door and, now free, Lauren crawled away just far enough to feel safe, collapsing in a hysterical heap on the floor.
She could hear words, muted as they were, and knew it was Dumbledore who had saved her. She would have to remember to thank him, have to remember… remember. Her mind began to slow, then stopped, frozen, then emptied, vacant. She could think nothing, feel nothing. Her vision faded out just as the tears ceased, her hearing gone just as someone screamed. The last sensation she could identify was being lifted. After that, everything was… White.
Chapter two will be around in a few hours and will give more answers.
In the mean time, any questions, comments, or advice, send it my way. Otherwise have a good day/night/other!