Blue Moon

Chapter One - Taking Walks at Night is Suicide

Near the top of every girl's list of 'What Not To Do' is taking walks, alone, at night. The way it is pounded into everyone's head, you'd think that if you even opened the door past ten you'd drop dead. Therefore, I abided by the unwritten rule and avoided it as much as I could. Occasionally, I'd walk home from my friend's house alone at midnight, but I only lived four houses down the street. Once I had this unbelievable urge to go jogging at four in the morning; luckily, I fell down the stairs and broke my ankle before I even left the house.

So I was surprised to see myself, wrapped up in my cloak with a scarf pulled tight, walking around the lake. It was November and about twenty degrees out; I was cold. No - cold was an understatement. I was a human Popsicle. Yet, that didn't stop my foolish wanderings. Almost as if I was in a trance, I found myself wandering to a nearby tree and sitting down against it. It seemed as if every fiber of instinct I had inside was telling me to flee to the safety of the castle. The smallest, stupidest brain cell in me told me to stay. So I did; I wasn't planning on throwing off my internal balance by leaving.

I felt like everything was a dream, like I was still snuggled in my bed, not in my cloak besides a tree. I pulled my knees into my chest and hugged them as the wind threw my hair about wildly. It seemed as if I was a prisoner to the wild, when in reality I could go back inside at any moment. I figured that I was half-asleep and my dreams were mixing with reality. Fog was entering my vision, begging me to give in, to go away, and I obliged sinking into the darkness.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

I awoke to a howl. It was still nighttime, but the sky was lightened by the huge, bluish full moon. I remembered that we had already had a full moon this month, so it had to be an unpredicted blue moon. I knew that they were rare and suddenly longed for a camera to photograph the amazing event. I wondered if others were watching it from the warmth of the indoors.

That was when I finally realized how cold I was. I looked down at my mitten-less fingers, which were tinted a pale blue. The feeling that came over me earlier telling me to stay out suddenly felt foolish. It was probably just my mind trying to find adventure. I sighed, standing up unsteadily. My muscles were stiff and protested against my actions as I stumbled in the direction of Hogwarts. I spent most of the walk running my hands up and down my arms, in attempt of finding warmth.

I heard another howl - and this time, it was much closer than the first. I looked around timidly. I figured I was going to freak myself out about it. The chances of being attacked by a wolf were (probably) terribly small. Nevertheless, I quickened my pace, even though I couldn't push my frozen legs much over a normal walking speed.

There was a rustle in the bushes next to me. I stopped dead in my tracks, staring at the spot the noise seemed to be coming from. Before I had a chance to do anything at all, some... thing darted out of the bushes. I screamed, ducking my head and covering my face with my hands.

The impact I had expected never came, and I silently cursed as I noticed a little bunny stood several feet away, between the bushes and me. I felt like a complete idiot. I always got myself so worked up over the simplest things, and this time I screamed because of a rabbit.

I was so busy thinking about the cute bunny and wondering why it was up so late that I didn't notice the large, snarling wolf behind me - until it jumped on me, that is. I screamed from the pain and surprise as we tumbled to the ground. My arms flailed as I attempted to defend myself and make it go away. It clawed my back as I screamed out in agony. I rolled over, which unsteadied the wolf as well as angered it.

I clambered up, only to be stopped as it took a bite of my leg. I collapsed in pain attempting to just make the stupid thing let me go. My tears were fogging my vision, so most of my hits missed their targets. Finally, my leg was released and I resorted my balance as it continued to claw at me. I really thought I was doing okay for being mauled by a wolf. As it chomped at my arm, a white-hot pain shot up it and the world seemed to turn black.

Thank Merlin the darkness didn't hurt.