The moonlight has a way of making all things appear tranquil. Unlike the sun, which is fiery and fierce, its light is a calming pale blue, nurturing and protective. It is the one source of light in dark times, the vanquisher of the shadows in the most threatening night. A beautiful goddess, it watches over and gives refuge to all. However, it is cursed to sit for all eternity and be but a silent observer to the sinister and sorrowful happenings in the hours of darkness.
Trees flew by as the figure made its way through the darkest corners of the forest, periodically glancing back to see if she was being followed. The cloak that was draped over her hid her face and identity from the curious moon, but it was of an elegant silk that made her feminine figure apparent. There was a sense of urgency about her, as if it was not simply a whim that had brought her to this place. She clutched a bundle closely to her chest, and held a wand in one hand. Then, after what seemed like hours of breathless running, she stopped at an ancient oak. It towered high above the forest, making even the most seasoned of trees look like nothing but saplings. She settled on one of its gigantic roots, hidden in the shadows and away from the frosty light of her only observer. However, the moon's curiosity would not be so easily deterred, so she pushed aside the clouds that covered her silver anatomy and reached with her ghostly beams to uncover the figure once again. She found it even more curious that this time she was not alone. A tall, wispy form of a man had joined the woman, seemingly out of thin air. His beard, faded to silver radiance over the ages, reached down to his waste and was tucked into the belt which he had donned over magnificent black robes with amethyst trim. He peered over at the woman with piercing blue eyes over half-moon spectacles.
"I'm glad you have seen reason and joined me here tonight, Krystal." He said to the woman, who then lowered her hood to reveal her curled rusty hair and her most uncanny amber eyes.
"I will not have you see this as a sign of my wavering loyalty, Dumbledore. I have not changed my allegiances." Her voice was dangerously soft, and yet she could not help but let out a small note of indecision.
"If you did not have doubts, you would not be here. We both know that." His twinkling crystal eyes surveyed Krystal in the way that made her shiver. She was sure that he could see into her very soul.
"This is no longer about me." She whispered, "I must act for others now."
"You are not evil, Krystal. We both know that. You know what he is –"
"I told you, Albus, we are not here to discuss my fate. I have already decided upon it." Her tone was impatient now, "I will not leave him."
"Be careful which path you chose my dear. I'm afraid this one can only end in your death." The placidity in his tone sent a fresh wave of fear trickling down her spine, but she held strong and her voice was formidable in her reply,
"I know this. And I have accepted it. I love him, and I will not leave him. After this meeting the only place you will see me is on the battlefield. I warn you now; neither he nor I will be taken alive"
Dumbledore's deeply lined face, which held the emotions of what appeared to be a century of life, contorted into a sorrowful fusion of worry, sadness, pain and the slightest touch of guilt. "I know my dear. Love works in mysterious ways. It is the most powerful of all magic and its bind is unrelenting and intoxicating. I just wish that your fate could be changed." He paused, looking thoughtful for a moment, "I remember your first day at Hogwarts. I recognised the spark in you straight away. I knew that you were destined for great things..."
The hard facade which Krystal had held up thus far was momentarily shattered as the ghosts of her past played across her large almond-shaped eyes, "We don't have time to reminisce ancient histories, Dumbledore." She said regaining her composure, "We must get to the matter at hand. He will surely notice my absence soon."
"You are doing the right thing. If he possessed this, he would use it for horrendous acts you couldn't imagine."
"I... I... I'm not sure anymore... There is good in him Dumbledore, I know there is! I've seen it... What if I changed him? Then all of this deceit and secrecy wouldn't be needed..." A river of tears threatened to flood her golden eyes, but did not fall beyond the dam of thick black eyelashes.
"You know that he will not be changed my child. His fate is sealed and decided, as is yours." Dumbledore reached for the bundle. Krystal unwillingly relinquished her hold on it as if he was ripping her heart out. She fell to the floor as if the realisation of what was taking place had only just struck her.
After procuring the bundle, Dumbledore turned away, pausing only for a second to glance back at the once promising and talented young witch that he had grown so fond of, reduced to a sad heaving pile, ruined on the floor. I will not fail you, Krystal. I promise I will not fail you. And with a crack he disappeared as quickly and completely as he had come.
Left behind sobbing on the forest floor, Krystal could not even hear the second crack that, in a clearer state of mind, would've alerted her to the presence of the dark form whose materialization made even the moon seem a little paler.
"What are you doing out here?" there was something foreign in the high voice that could almost be identified as warmth, "Krystal?"
"I'm sorry Tom..." She sobbed, turning her face up to glance upon his pale, snakelike face and his eyes that screamed of all the blood he had claimed, "I'm so sorry... I llove you... but, what you've become – there was nothing else... I didn't know what else I could do..." she grabbed the foot of his robes and sobbed uncontrollably.
He grabbed her with his long pallid fingers and pulled her up to face him, his usually cruel face contorted in pain that seemed to cut his very core, "What did you do?" his voice shook as if he had already guessed the depths of her betrayal.
The moon sunk low in the sky, willing herself to hide, not wanting to hear the anguished screams that followed, nor see the flash of green light that made all fall of the wood fall silent. But it could not escape the awful sight, and allowed the sky to shed tears for the body of the woman lying limp and forgotten on the forest floor.