Freedom at last!
Chapter 1: Difficulty with Friends
15 year old Martha Black was about to start her fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, but was trying to deal with the fact that so many people had died since the darkest and most feared wizard in the world, Lord Voldemort, had regained power and strength three years ago, and was now approaching his maximum power. Martha had very nearly lost her father to Voldemort's hands two years ago, had lost one of her best friends, Adelyne Marlo, to Voldemort's hands the previous year, and her boyfriend, Dean Ethene, had lost his entire family to Voldemort's hands the previous year, shortly after Adelyne's death. What had made matters worse, however, was the fact that Martha and Dean now had a daughter who was approaching her first birthday. They'd named their daughter Adelyne, after Martha's deceased friend, but as soon as Adelyne had been born, Voldemort seemed to turn his sights to her. So Martha and her family had to go into hiding, so improved the security on their home, by replacing the Fidelius charm, which was beginning to wear off.
"Martha?" her boyfriend's voice asked her timidly. Martha looked up and hugged him tightly. "Are you alright?" he asked, hugging her in return.
"I'm fine. I'll live. I was just thinking about Adelyne and how Voldemort seems to want to try and kill her. But why do you think he wants to kill her?" she asked him softly.
"Martha, I don't know why he wants to kill her, but we can't dwell on that right now. We have to think positive if we're going to deal with it." He replied, kissing her briefly, when a yell was suddenly heard, followed by screaming. Martha and Dean looked up and ran down the stairs at top speed, stopping only in the lounge room. A horrifying scene met them in the lounge; Lord Voldemort was standing there, his wand pointed at Martha's parents and best friend, Lannastar Potter. Martha and Dean both whipped out their wands and pointed them at him, but Martha suddenly realised that she had Adelyne in her arms.
"Dean, I want you to take Adelyne back upstairs; I'll hold Voldemort off. Hurry!" she whispered, handing her daughter to Dean, who ran back upstairs. Martha looked up, only then realising that Voldemort was standing over her.
"Trying to let my prey get away, are you?" he asked her dangerously in a whisper.
"You're not going to touch my daughter, Voldemort! You're not going to touch any of us!" she shouted but Voldemort only laughed.
"Too late," he said, laughing. "Look behind me."
Martha looked around him and realised that Lannastar's tall, thin form was lying limp on the floor, Martha's mother, Natalie, kneeling over her. Sirius was tied up against the wall, struggling against his bonds.
"What did you do to them, Voldemort?" she asked him quietly, glaring at him.
"Nothing that you should worry about, considering you won't live long enough to worry." He replied simply. With that, Martha transformed into a werewolf, growling at the Dark Lord. "Good dog." He said, disapparating. Martha transformed back, looking at the place where Voldemort had disappeared.
"Dean, get Adelyne down here now! We'll have to leave!" she shouted up the stairs and Dean soon appeared at the bottom of the stairs, Adelyne in his arms.
"What about the animals?" he asked her, referring to the dogs (Snuffles, Padfoot, Dolly, Silky, Rotty and Rover), the bats (Tiny and Rebel) and Lannastar's mouse (Minnie).
"They're obviously coming too, you idiot." She said, running over to her father and untying him before kneeling next to Lannastar's lifeless form. "Is she okay Mum?" she asked Natalie softly, and the latter hugged her.
"She'll live. She's only unconscious. Voldemort had thrown the table at her, so it's just lucky that your father had slowed it down before it hit her. If it had hit her at full speed, she'd be dead now." Natalie replied.
"Thank you Mum for looking after her. Do you think we should move out of the house and into someone else's house?" Martha asked her softly.
"Definitely. Pack your things. I'll pack Lannastar's things. Sirius!" she called her husband to her. "Get the dogs ready! We're leaving." She told him and he nodded, leaving the room.
"I'll get Dean to pack his things and grab Adelyne's stuff." Martha said and her mother nodded, leaving the room and walking upstairs.
