"Strange, I thought, how you can be living your dreams and your nightmares at the very same time."
― Ransom Riggs, Hollow City
Ice covered the shoveled walk from the house to the road and the path was slick with it. Along the roadside the trees were bare and icicles hung down from every branch. The predawn air was cupped by a dark sky chiseled with frosted chips of white stars. Katherine walked swiftly knowing the snow could become nasty at any moment. The wind nipped at her bare neck. As she shivered to herself she wished she had been wiser and left her hair down to keep herself warmer. She couldn't release her hair from the bun since her hands were hugging the warm bakery goods her mom sent her to buy. The smell of freshly baked bread motivated her to walk faster. The thought of her mother bundled up their small portable heater made her smile. They lived together in a small house meant for only one person but they were comfortable. After moving from location to location without any troubling encounters, her mother finally gained some piece of mind. This was the first time they stayed in place for more than a month. Better yet Christmas was right around the corner. Perhaps they could finally stop running.
When she turned the corner into her driveway came into view the grin slowly faded from her face. The front door was left open slightly and the lights were off. Her mother would never leave the door open like that for she was too careful. As she inched closer to the front door the sound of a muffled cry reached her ears. When she heard the same sound again, she suddenly began to panic. She quickly dropped the back of food, its contents spilling onto the floor as the bag tipped over. She threw open the door to find her mother lifted in the air with her hands clutching her throat at the invisible force that was choking her.
"Mother!" Katherine cried out. In response a dark hooded figure emerged from the shadows a wand in hand directed at her mother.
"A Death Eater?!" Katherine snarled and instinctively reached to her back pocket to grab her wand but she only grasped air. "Shit…" Her mother had hidden away their wands when they had gone into hiding months ago. The older woman feared that any use of magic could be traced back to them. She didn't want to take the risk of being caught. But now they were completely defenseless. Katherine glanced down at the intruder's wand – right now their only ticket out of there was that. All she had to do was find a way to stun him momentarily. With a sound of a war cry bursting from her lips she launched herself at the hooded figure. Immediately the stranger dropped her mom where he stood. The clatter of his wand onto the floor pushed Katherine to use all the strength she could muster to ram forcefully against the stranger into a nearby wall, the mirror shattering into small pieces as she ground the man's back into it. Before the man could react Katherine grabbed the biggest shard of glass next to her and stabbed it into the man's leg. As he cried out in pain, Katherine turned around for the fallen wand. With the wand pointed at her attacker she quickly moved backwards over to her mother who still hadn't moved from where she had been dropped. Dropping down quickly to her knees, Katherine turned her mother over onto her back and winced at the sight.
Her creamy skin had become a deathly pale. Her mother's lip was cut, her blouse torn and large bruises already in evidence from neck to her cheekbones. Katherine placed the tip of her wand to her mother's chest "Rennervate!".
A gasp of air exploded from her mother and her hands quickly went to her throat as if unsure whether her attacker had let her go. "Thank God!" Katherine cried softly. Her mother was breathing but it was labored.
Katherine grasped her mother's hand "How badly did he hurt you?".
"Not badly. He just frightened me." Her mother put her hand to her head and winced. "He only hit me twice before he started choking me." Watching her mother struggling to keep her own voice calm, Katherine's face suffused with color, dark and angry at her mother's words. Katherine grip tightened uncontrollably on her mother's hand before quickly letting go. Standing up slowly Katherine glared at her attack who was trying to crawl away.
"Carpe Retractum" she stated coolly. A long white rope shot out from the tip of Katherine's wand and quickly pulled the injured man toward her. Despite having a wand only inches from his face the Death Eater tried to resist and lunged for her.
"Shouldn't have done that to us" she said steely. With a flick of her wand she yelled out "CRUCIO!". The Death Eater dropped to the ground his limbs twisted about and his agonizing screams echoed in the room. Katherine stood over him with her wand pointed at his torso, her foot pressed heavily into the man's stomach. The desire to inflict pain was an overwhelming feeling. But she knew she should pull away – she knew that casting such a spell too long would have irreversible consequences. Closing her eyes she willed herself to pull away and she stepped backwards breathing heavily. Quickly she lifted her mother's hand around her shoulders and pulled her up.
"Mom I got his wand! We can run now."
"Ku ku ku…" came a laugh from the shadows. A chill ran down Katherine's spine. The sound of approaching footsteps then rang in Katherine's ears. A pair of scarlet snakelike eyes emerged from the darkness followed by a pale ghostly individual. No, this was no human. This thing had given up humanity long ago all for the sake of power.
It wasn't even a real laugh she realized - just the sound of amusement. A sound that was meant to make those who heard it realize that they were hopelessly outmatched. This thing didn't even feel it was worth the trouble of actually laughing at their efforts to escape.
A menacing whisper pierced through the air "Impressive show. As always you display immense potential Katherine"
Suddenly a hand moved in front of Katherine's body protectively, her mother now stood defiantly in front of her with the wand in possession now . "Hello Tom".
Snakelike eyes narrowed dangerously "I don't go by that name anymore Natasha."
A laugh of disgust came from her mother. "Yes that's right. You're Voldermort now, or was it the Dark Lord? Whatever the name, a monster is what you are."
He shook his head mockingly. "You used to be so obedient. I much preferred you that way." I gave you a home and protection. All you had to do is be quiet and stay still. But I see you're no longer able to serve any purpose".
Katherine's eyes widen in horror as he drew a long wand from his sleeve. She tried to pull at her mother's sleeve but her mother remained unmoving. "You'll have to get through me first if you want her" her mother said with shocking cool.
With a sinister laugh he said "Really? Let's just see about that…" An orange light shot out from his wand and darted towards them.
"Protego" her mother cried out and with an upward flick of her wand a blue transparent light surrounded the two. Volermort's attack disappeared upon impact but so did the shield.
"We're not your puppets" her mother said firmly.
Katherine covered her mouth to hold back a scream as her mother sent back a retaliating spell.. A rain of jinxes, curses and protective spells flew back and forth as the two wand holders crouched and circled one another. Then a deafening silence filled the house as the attacks suddenly ceased.
Voldermort's hand that was holding his wand dropped to his side and he stood there seemingly defenseless "Natasha how did we become like this? Can't we go back to the way we used to be when we were kids?"
For just a second Katherine saw her mother's guard drop with a look of hope. But a second was all he needed to slip through her mother's guard. It happened all too quickly – a light flashed and her mother was on the ground again in pain.
A cry split the air and Katherine quickly grabbed the wand on the ground. Standing she shouted from the top of her lungs "AVADA KEDAVRA!". The green light she was all too familiar with erupted from her wand and washed over Voldermort.
She hated him for giving her mother false hope
She hated him for treating them as tools
She hated him for his inability to see another's point of view
hated him for justifying the pain he was inflicting
hated him because he was her father
Hated him
" Katherine!" she heard her mother shout from behind.
As if her trance was broken, Katherine jerked back. She stared in panic at her own two hands. "Oh God…."
A menacing whisper pierced through the air "Why must you torture yourself like this? Don't resist the hate and anger. Why fight against a power you born with?"
Hands covered pained ears "I'm not like you. I will never become like you!
The sinister laugh approached closer.
"Oh child, but my blood runs through your veins. And with that kind of power is a certain fate. Just now you struggled to stop yourself from killing that man. It pained you to stop – you didn't want to stop."
"NOOO!" she cried out. Suddenly a hand reached around her stomach from behind and pulled her into a tight embrace.
"Protego Maxima! Fianto Duri!" yelled out her mother. A blueish white light conjured up around once again around the two of them. Voldermort's brought down a rain of spells onto the barrier. But his attacks disintegrated on the spot creating very loud resonating explosions. He roared out in frustration.
Her mother hugged her tighter when she noticed Katherine was shaking. "What if he's right Mom? What if I lose control of my magic? I don't want to kill anymore" she whispered.
Hands gripped Katherine's shoulder and she was turned to look her mother in the eyes. "It took a plenty of strength to pull away like you did now. You're not like him. He wouldn't have stopped."
Katherine's eyes welled up in appreciation.
"I've had the privilege of raising you these past 13 years. Even after we were captured you endured through the pain with a determination beyond your years. Do you really think you're destined to follow him into darkness? No, that is not what will become of you. Katherine Harris someday you will be called to fight against him and help him the war".
"How are you so sure?"
"I'm your mother" she said with a smile. As Natasha ran a hand through her daughter's hair, her eyes made contact with Voldermort's. She knew she was running out of time and he was waiting to strike.
Pushing her daughter gently off of her Natasha's gave a deep breath and maintained a grim expression "When I pull down the barrier you must escape. I can hold only hold him off for a few minutes. "
"Mom what are you talking about?" Katherine whispered. "We're supposed to stick together."
"That should give you plenty of time to give yourself a considerable amount of distance" her mother continued.
"Don't do this!"
"IT'S THE ONLY WAY!" Natasha whispered harshly. Reaching down into the inside of her jacket Natasha pulled out a wand made of holly. "Its' time I gave this back to you."
Katherine accepted the wand without speaking in fear that her own tears would spill out.
Leaning forward Natasha gave her daughter a kiss on the forehead "You may not be where you want to be yet. But you have a good reason to believe that you can trust yourself going forward. Not because you've always made the right choices, but because you survived the bad ones, and you're taking small steps in the right direction".
Katherine threw her arms around her mother's neck one last time.
"My sweet dear child, I love you so much". Feeling her daughter's arms loosen she watched her step away from her. "I love you too mom". With that last exchange Katherine turned around and ran for the door. With the barrier uplifted she sprinted with all her might.
Using her last incantation Natasha bewitched the broom in the room. The old broom sped sloppily up behind Katherine, scooped her up and she flew out into the sky. Without turning around she knew he was behind her, wand pointed down at her.
"You always chased dreams foolishly Natasha"
"Perhaps. But Katherine has made all my dreams come true. Maybe one day you'll see what I mean."
With that Natasha closed her eyes and let the green light envelop her.
Miles away Katherine's broom had suddenly stopped working and she had plummeted down into an empty ice covered field. Though her wand was a few feet away from her too many bones were broken for her to move. She coughed violently, her lungs straining, fresh wounds bleeding, her legs burning from her effort to run away. Each gulp of air was like sipping chilled razor blades that sliced, then numbed, the throat before being expelled in afrigid steam. The winter storm the news had been predicting finally hit. The winds were howling and the heavy fall of snow began to bury her. She realized that she would probably die out here despite her mother's sacrifice.
Whatever burst of adrenaline that resulted in her fear and sheer desperation to escape had left her. All that was left of her was exhaustion and sorrow. She smirked to herself but the grin held no humor.
Why the fates continued to torture her was beyond her understanding. Till the very end Fate had allowed him to take everything from her.
The room began to spin and Katherine let herself fall into the cold darkness.
Knock Knock Knock.
Eyes burst open and Katherine bolted upright. A hand desperately gripped the front of her shirt as she tried to catch her breath.
Knock Knock Knock
"It was just a nightmare" she whispered to herself shakily. She pulled her knees to her head and hugged herself tightly. "Just another nightmare…"
Knock Knock Knock
"Just a moment please" she shouted as she brought herself out of bed slowly.
Katherine walked over to the mirror to look at the damage. Sweat had plastered her black hair messily over her face. Her eyes were red from crying in her sleep. With a sigh she muttered a few words and reevaluated her reflection. She wasn't looking teary-eyed and distressed anymore but grim and resigned. Over the years she had become paler, her ivory skin made her deep hazel eyes stand out more in her oval shaped face - they were traits she'd gotten from the other side of her family. The thought made her thin pink lips curl downwards. As much as she hated seeing similarities of him in her she didn't deny that she grew up into a beautiful woman. At thirty years of age her long black hair tumbled down in waves to the middle of her back. The white long sleeve, jeans and black boots right below her ankle that now covered her emphasized her willowy and angular figure. Those model like qualities came from her mother she thought with a smile. Noticing her silver heart locket hanging from her neck she grasped it in her hand tightly before tucking in back underneath her shirt. Grabbing her cloak she then headed for the door. Upon opening it she found a tiny creature with bat-like ears and bulging brown eyes looking up at her.
"The Headmaster is ready to see you Mrs" squeaked the house elf.
[Authors Note]
Disclaimer: J. K. Rowling owns Harry Potter.
Thank you for checking out my story! This is the first fanfiction I've ever written. I
I would appreciate any feedback, comments, plot suggestions or questions you have because it will help me improve my writing and influence the direction this story takes.
Wish me luck :)