Chapter 1 - Get Out Alive

Short I know, but like most of my Fan-fictions, first chapter is just a setup, the rest of the chapters are much longer.

Also! Those of you reading my Silence is Golden fan-fiction, don't worry! I'm still working on it, but it's slow going because I don't know where I'm gonna head next in it. I've tried multiple ideas and none of them fit right, so please be patient!

Now then: To address first time readers joining me- I will warn you, there will be times where I won't update for days, weeks even months at a time. This isn't your fault for not reviewing, this is all me and I tend to go into depressive states where I just don't want to do anything. I do eventually end up writing again, especially if it's popular or if I'm interested in seeing how the ending turns out.

As of right now, I have several chapters written up ahead of time and plan on posting once a week so, you have several weeks without any worry of nothing being posted. This is the first time I've written for the Harry Potter fandom, and while I am a huge fan, I may be vague or completely wrong about some details, so I'm looking to you, fans, to help me out if that happens.

Please be understanding, and DO NOT BE AFRAID TO TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK. Don't be outright rude, but anything that helps me better myself as a writer and helps me make this story better is welcome. I enjoy long reviews with pointers and descriptions of what you liked/didn't like.

Now that's out of the way, onward to the story!

-I do NOT own HP or it's characters

-I DO own Sonya and the Plot

~TL

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Fire burns, you know?

Yeah, horrible opening, I know, but still... Ouch.

I mean, think about it, it's used to cook, to melt iron... Did you know fire could catch bone on fire if it's hot enough? Because I didn't, not until today. Fun times, I might add, learning all of this while trying to escape a building that's about to collapse because the flames had weakened the support structure.

Did I mention it's hot yet?

Oh! And another thing, who the hell sets fire to a building in the middle of the night? I mean, people sleep, normal people sleep so they can get up in the morning and go to work. Not so they can be rudely awakened by blaring fire alarms and panicked screaming in the hallways of their apartment building.

So that's how my day's been so far, well... Early day, too early for me to care about anything else other than, you know, escaping. Oh one more thing to add is that even if you're crawling, it doesn't make one damn difference in a building with more than one floor, wanna know why? Because smoke rises... Right through the vents on the damn floor! So crawling? Useless.

So here I am, running through the fifth story of an apartment building in the middle of a busy city, coughing up a lung while searching for the stairs at the other end, one hand clutching my glasses to my face because they oh-so-conveniently broke after running into some moron right outside my door. The other hand pressed to the wall beside me so I have an idea of where I am.

I bet you're wondering where I learned about the bone burning tidbit, aren't you? Well, I didn't forget it, no... I don't think I'll ever forget it... As in nightmares for the rest of my life.

Little old lady that lived down the hall, no, she isn't the typical oh so sweet one either, this woman crawled straight from the pits of hell... Or rather the pits of some archaic religious church where throwing bibles at same-sex couples is not only approved, but required.

Little old lady pinned to a wall by a piece of ceiling that came down on her. Thankfully she was already dead, not because I hated her, but the wall behind her had caught, burnt right through the skin and muscle on her shoulder already, straight to the bone... And yes, the bone was burning too.

No matter how much perfume I spray directly up my nose, I will never get rid of that smell. I would rather vacation in a sewage pit for a week than smell that again, even for one second. On the plus side, my friend Brianna will be happy because I definitely never want to see another piece of meat in my life again, cooked or otherwise. Damn vegans, if they want to recruit, all they have to do is show people a video of someone burning in a fire, definitely ruin anyone's appetite for meat.

Back to running for my life, curiously, I still haven't found the stairs, and I know I should be there by now... Everyone else is already either gone, dead or dying. I did try to help, don't you shake your head at me, I really did!

But searing your hands with second degree burns trying to open the metal handle of a door for someone inside is just plain stupid because you can't do much else after that other than tell them sorry and run away before their screams can imprint in your memory.

Choking on the smoke, blocking out screams and trying not to see the bodies laying on the ground or against the walls as you pass them all while trying to escape in one piece is more than what someone expects when reading a book about a burning building. Or watching a movie for that matter, no matter how hard they try, no one could ever fully capture the fear and desperation that one feels being trapped inside.

Your lungs burn, your nose itches and all you can think about is how hot it is, how much you wish you could get out and everyone else you knew, even if it was only by sight, could get out with you. That burnt person laying in the middle of the floor, barely twitching and making little sounds of pain could be someone's son or brother. But no, you try not to think about it so you can get out alive.

That's all you want to do, is survive all of this so you can go on and forget about it. Not to mention the years of therapy you'd have to endure so your nightmares for years afterwards won't bother you so much.

That creaking noise overhead, could just be the wind... But, I know better, that's one thing movies got right, was despite how loud the flames were or how fast your heart was beating in your ears. You could hear the sounds of the building slowly giving out, like an hourglass running out of sand, you knew it was a timer, and unfortunately, it wasn't on my side.

Looking up, I stared at the bare ceiling, the metal beams separating the floor above from the one I was one were groaning, louder by the second. The smoke was so thick, I could barely see the flames licking at the wood of the floor past them, faint flickers of light and that roaring whoosh were the only indication I had that the fire had made it's way to that floor.

Another loud groan, a creak and finally, the metal beams wrenched free.

All I could do was close my eyes and try to run, to get out from under them before they crashed down.

Unfortunately, speed was never my strong point.

I could feel the heat from the metal before it hit me, right between my shoulder blades. I could feel something inside snap, like when you pop your knuckles, that faint feeling of relief for a split second then pain. Searing hot metal pressing against my back as I lay on the floor. Too hot to push off, to heavy to move even if I could try.

Could being the main word considering nothing was moving now, spines weren't made to deal with that kind of force. I could feel my throat burning, but I couldn't scream, too much smoke damage I guess. Just a faint gasping and whistling noise made it out of me as I lay there.

You know, they said that your life flashes before your eyes just before death.

I couldn't see anything but the open stairwell I had been looking for just a few moments ago, only a few feet away from me. The kicker? There was fire on the stairs leading down. Closing my eyes, I could feel tears building up, cold compared to the heat around me, burning their way down my face as the salt seeped into the small cuts and burns on the skin there. Nothing like seeing your attempt at living had been useless anyway.

Everything around me was starting to grow faint, the flames weren't so loud now, even my heartbeat in my ears was quiet. Then, in the distance, I could hear a voice. No one I recognized, with a different accent than I was used to.

"Darlene! Run! Run before they see you!"

"Daddy!"

"Run, Sweetie! I'll be right behind you!"

I would have been confused if I bothered to muster up the energy to feel anything but exhausted and crushed... No pun intended. Who saw who? Didn't this guy want his daughter to be seen by anyone? Someone had to get her out of there, I was in no shape to do it.

"Daddy, I'm scared." Definitely a little girl, doing that little hiccupy cry most kids do when terrified.

"Don't worry, Sweetie. I'll be fine, you hide here until I can get back to you. Stay here and don't make any noise."

What the hell was wrong with this guy? Telling his daughter to hide somewhere quietly while a fire was burning the building down around them?

Struggling to keep listening, I tried to ignore the pain in my head and the fact that I couldn't hear my heart hardly anymore. Still beating, but so weak it was difficult to make out. Strange thing was, the weaker and slower it got... The more I could hear, huh, no one mentioned super hearing moments before death. Too bad I can't tell anyone about it.

Squeezing my eyes shut tightly, I listened to the little girl's quiet crying. The now-familiar hiccuping sob. A loud bang, and raised voices made her muffle another cry and made me frown. 'I know you have a daughter, Edwin. Tell us nicely where she is and you can go free.'

'To hell with you!' There was the father, but what the hell was going on? All of this during a fire, what was wrong with these people!

'Come now, Slone. You know for a fact the Dark Lord wont let this go.' A man's cry of pain this time. 'You've seen it too many times by now to know better. Even as a past servant, you should have known better than to try and hide.' Dark lord? Now that was vaguely familiar, where have I heard that before? Another pained yell cut through my jumbled thoughts, followed by a few mumbled curses from several different voices.

'Why did you do that! Now we don't know what he did with the girl!'

'He wasn' gonna tell us! Betta ta' end it now, I say.' A very thick accent, it was more than difficult to understand.

'Don't matter, search the house.' A few heavy footsteps shuffled away, a heavy thump of something big hitting the floor followed by another softer sounding blow. 'Bleedin' heart.' The first man's voice muttered before the sounds of boots clumped closer. 'Come out come out, wherever you are.'

The little girl's soft sobs became panicked, her hiccups making them break off halfway. The boots stopped. 'Come on now, don't you want to see if your daddy is okay?'

That bastard! If I could move, I'd have gotten up and slugged his smug face. I just knew from the tone of his voice he was smirking. Most likely looking right at the place where the little girl was hiding, typical cliche bad guy.

Another little sob before something clicked, a door handle turning and the low creak of it swinging open. I tried to struggle, wiggled my head around like a damn worm without.. Well they don't have legs anyway, but like hell I was going to let this guy do anything to her!

'There you are.' That damn smirk-voice again.

'Where's daddy?' Oh poor baby! Let me help you, Auntie Sonya will beat up the bad man then take you out for ice cream!

'Gone away, would you like to go see him?' Let me at him! I'll strangle him with my limp hands!

'Da-' Hiccup. 'Daddy...' You just kick that man right where the sun don't shine, sweetheart.

'That's right, now hold still...'

I grimaced, waiting for the blow to land, eyes shut tight against something I couldn't even see.

A flash of green light, then darkness.

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