Disclaimer: Something something I don't actually own Harry Potter.
The sun was setting in Hove in the county of East Sussex in England. The town was alive with people. Everyone was trying to get to their destination for the night. Some people were on their way home and others were on their way out for the evening. Tucked behind a large church off of a busy street was a small dingy alleyway. An alleyway that most people paid no mind to. They walked by it every day and never looked down it. If you tried to point it out most people would just shrug it off and not give it a second thought. The reason why the people who walked by it, the people on either side of it, and even the town workers and planners who mapped the town acted like it didn't exist was because of magic. That alleyway was home Kettlebell Corner. Kettlebell Corner was a small shopping place magically tucked away between the church and several shops. It only consisted of a few streets small when compared to something like Diagon Alley in London.
If someone was paying close attention to the alleyway at this moment they would be rightly confused. One moment the alleyway was empty completely void of any life. Nothing but a pair beat up metal trash cans pushed up to the dirty brick wall. Then out of nowhere a group of men and woman appeared out of thin air.
"Everyone alright?" A tall man asked as he brushed some dust off the sleeves of his crimson robes. Everyone around him wore the same colored robes.
"I'm alright Neville," a shorter man replied with a thick Irish accent.
Neville turned to look at the witches and wizards around him. Neville was the Captain of this Auror Squad. The man who had spoken to him was a classmate from Hogwarts Seamus Finnigan. The Irishman was about 5'6 with brown hair cropped short. A thick brown beard covered his face. Next to him was Dean Thomas the tallest member of the squad standing at 6'3 with a long neck.
"I hate ruddy portkeys." The comment came from Anthony Goldstein. His blond hair hung just above his eyes blue eyes and down to his shoulders.
"Stop your whining Tony." Jamie Telling huffed as she tied her brown hair into a bun. She shot him a glare as she tried to smooth out her robes.
"Yeah we all hate em." Katherine said her auburn hair was cut short and her dull green eyes were staring back at the annoying blonde.
Neville rolled his eyes. Anthony was definitely a capable Auror and though his attitude and arrogance had leveled out over the years he was still a bit obnoxious. "Come on you lot remember what we're dealing with here." Neville said in a soft but commanding voice. Neville had changed the most since Hogwarts. No longer chubby Neville was a tall lean man. His short brown hair which stuck up a bit off his forehead. His face now lean and showing off a thick jaw line that was covered in brown stubble. At 21 years old he was the second youngest squad captain in the history of the Aurors.
Neville looked up into the orange and pink sky and resisted the urge to sigh. This was the seventh call they had gotten in just three weeks. Neville brought his attention to the section of brick in between the two battered trash cans. With a flick of his wrist a long wand shot out from his right sleeve. Neville lifted the wand and tapped the trashcan to the right of him. Then three bricks to the left, two bricks down, and finally the left trash can. Unlike Diagon Alley the bricks didn't move away the wall remained perfectly intact.
"Come on then." Neville stepped forward and walked straight through the wall. The wall stood between the alley and a shop on the other side. A small gap in between the wall and the building is where they were headed. The remainder of his team followed him through the wall behind him. Shoved into the small gap in between the wall and a shops on the other side was Kettlebell Corner. Magical wards covered the alley allowing it to fit in between the small three foot gap in between the wall and the shop. Following the small gap in between the wall and the buildings on the other side you would see even smaller gaps in between the buildings. Tucked in there with Kettlebell's side streets.
Neville emerged from the other side facing a large shop made of old bricks. Telly's Magical Confections. A small display window was visible on the building. In the display window there were several Chocolate Frogs jumping around. Neville could see Cockroach Clusters, Licorice Wands, and several other sweets. Hanging up on the side was a picture of a smiling little girl wide eyed. Her head would turn and sweep the shop in the picture her blond curls bouncing. Neville stared at the picture for a moment his face neutral. The girl seemed so happy her eyes seemed to shine.
"You coming boss?" Anthony asked as he started forward down the street. The rest of the squad had come threw and was heading down the main pathway.
"Yeah." Neville said as he turned to follow after them. Neville kept his eyes forward as he looked down the sparse street. Officers from The Department of Magical Law Enforcement had done a good job clearing the streets. A few sparse groups of Wizards and Witches dotted the streets trying to wrap up their shopping. Each small side street only had a enough room for about two or three shops.
"Is everything okay with the Captain?" Jamie asked Seamus in a whispered tone. She glanced back her brown eyes darting over to Neville who was bringing up the rear to the left letting Anthony and Seamus take lead. Jamie was the newest member of the team promoted from the DMLE Magical Patrol Team.
"Yeah he just gets like that sometimes." Seamus whispered back without looking at her. "He's thinkin."
"This is gonna be brutal." Anthony said looking towards the side street coming up. Standing in front of the entrance where two officers from the DMLE in their blue robes. They were standing guard to the entrance.
"Alright team let's get this over with and done right." Neville said as he moved forward to take lead.
"Captain Longbottom." one of the officers said nodding her head. Neville nodded back and walked by her and her partner.
Neville started down the darkening alleyway now lit up with magical blue flames. The sun was continuing to set and the sky was getting darker. The bright pinks and had faded into deep reds. This side street had no shops on it. Just a row of dumpsters. Towards the end of the alley where three more officers in their blue robes. There was another person in black robes with their hood pulled up. The person was also wearing a slick black mask that looked like it was made of oil. There were slits where for the eyes and nose. The mask which looked like it was more liquid than solid had folds in it. These folds created groves and lines to form of a basic blank face on the surface.
"God damn it." Neville cursed to himself. It was an Unspeakable from the Department of Mysteries. Unspeakables usually did their own thing in their little basement doing research into all types of magic and all types of questionable experiments. Neville thought back to his fifth year at Hogwarts, and shuddered. He could still remember how those brains had wrapped their tentacles around Ron's arm. Questionable experiments and research aside they had other tasks too. Mostly playing loyal lap dogs to the Minister. Every once and a while one of them would come up and make a bunch of noise. Making it harder for the people who actually did real work to keep things on track.
Neville and his group of Aurors came closer to the scene. "Dean and Katherine start doing a sweep for trace magical activity. Seamus and Jamie you two start searching for any physical clues. Anthony with me."
"Got it boss." Seamus said as he pulled Jamie to the side and drew his wand.
"Surething," Dean mumbled softly as he stood back and let the group go ahead of him. Katherine stayed back as well and drew her wand.
"Think we'll actually find something this time?"
"Probably not no." Dean said as he sighed heavily. He was just happy he didn't have to go up and see the bodies this time. The other times still woke him up at night. Dean suddered. This had been going on for weeks...in the UK.
Neville continued forward his eyes locked onto the Unspeakable. "I see you crawled out of your little hidey hole to come up and play." Neville said harshly as he stared into the empty black void. He couldn't see the Unspeakable's eyes. Where the slits where there was just darkness. "Come up here to fuck everything up? Gonna write down everything we do and tell the Minister that we're inadequately doing our jobs?"
"We wouldn't have to get involved if you and your people were performing your jobs adequately." The Unspeakable said back calmly. Their voice was distorted due to the magic of the mask. Whoever they were they sounded neither male or female.
"How did you hear about this already?" Neville spat back glaring at the Unspeakable. Anthony was standing behind Neville glaring at the Unspeakable as well.
"I was on my way out and figured I'd come take a look at it myself. I'm sick of reading the reports that never have any answers."
"The case is yours if you want it." Neville said his fists clenched. The Unspeakable didn't respond. "That's what I thought. If you don't want to do it then let me do my job. You three," Neville said peeling his eyes from the shadowy figure and onto the three officers in blue. "Any witnesses?"
"No Captain Longbottom." A tall man with thinning grey hair answered. It seemed like he was the senior officer.
" Did you touch the bodies?"
"N-no sir."
"Move them?"
The man shook his head.
"Did you do anything productive at all?" Neville asked looking away as he shifted his eyes downward. Neville didn't bother to listen to whatever the man said. Neville was starting to get irritated. It was bad enough this was going on but now the Unspeakables where showing up to his crime scenes. "Goldstein start your diagnostics."
Neville crouched down and looked forward over the scene. He clenched his teeth so hard he felt like they were going to shatter. Over a dozen body parts were strewn across the street. The clothes seemed to have been ripped from them and discarded somewhere else. By Neville's count there were at least two victims this time. Pale naked flesh was scattered around carelessly thrown about. Two heads were on opposite sides for the street. Both blond and both young barely older than Neville himself. It was two sisters by the look of it. The scene could almost be mistaken as an art exhibition.
"Once again not a drop of blood anywhere." Anthony said softly as he made his way around the scene with his wand.
"No wands either." An officer said softly. "We looked everywhere."
"I'm shocked." Neville said without looking up. Shuffling forward Neville tilted his head and squinted. "Anthony?"
"It's the same as before. No blood, no sweat, no tears, no trace magic anywhere on the body." Anthony was squatting sweeping his wand over the ground.
"The bodies don't have any magic either."
"What?" Neville asked his brown eyes flicking up to look at the Unspeakable.
"This case has piqued our interest. Your people in the DMLE have been consulting us on the autopsies. We've ran our checks we haven't found a single bit of magic in the victims. Even after death their magic should linger for years."
"We're sure they aren't muggles?" Neville asked as he stood up. Keeping his eyes on the bodies.
"Yes the first two victims were identified as wizards from France." The Unspeakable said as they moved around closer to Neville. "Haven't you been reading the reports?"
"My job isn't to figure out who they are and where they came from. My job is to find who killed them. Doesn't matter to me if anyone claims the body."
"Narrow thinking then. Unsurprising coming from an Auror." The Unspeakable seemed to glare at Neville through the mask. "I thought you were better than that Captain Longbottom. Pretty much every muggle officer would laugh in your face right now."
"Narrow thinking huh? Don't have to take off that mask to show me who you are." Neville said with a cocked eyebrow. "The way you laude yourself over us like you're so much better. Not much has changed from Hogwarts. You're still just a know it all."
The Unspeakable went to step forward as if to get into Neville's face before stopping. "Not as stupid as I look then. Even for an Auror." Neville was smirking at the Unspeakable.
"Captain." Neville looked towards Anthony with a cocked eyebrow. "I think we're good here. Not much else we can get from the scene."
"Tell the team to call it a night. We'll meet first thing in the morning." Neville turned to walk away resisting the urge to shout at the Unspeakable. "Make sure the files on all of the victims are on my desk tomorrow morning." Neville commanded reluctantly. The Unspeakable was right. He had made a mistake, and he needed to make sure there weren't anymore hiding away. Neville walked by the rest of his team without sparing them another look. Neville made it out to the entrance of the alleyway before turning on heel and disappearing with a crack.
"What happened?" Katherine asked as they all grouped up at the end of the alleyway. She looked down to where the bodies where and saw the Unspeakable crouching down much like Neville had been.
"If that's who I think it is. There's some history there." Anthony said as he glanced back down at the Unspeakable. "They used to be friends...but you know with everything and time…" Anthony trailed off he didn't want to get into it. He didn't have the facts and if Katherine or Jamie said something to the Captain it'd be his head. "First thing in the morning all." Anthony said before walking off to the entrance.
"I could go for a few pints after this one." Seamus said softly. He was running his hands through his coarse brown beard.
"Me to mate." Dean said as he glanced back at the bodies and resisted the urge to grimace. "Wanna join us?" Dean was looking between Katherine and Jamie.
"Sure I'm down for a drink or six." Jamie replied with a sigh.
"Not tonight boys sorry." Katherine said as she stretched and walked off.
"Alright then meet you all at the Cauldron in about 15." With that Seamus didn't even bother walking to the alleyway entrance he just turned, and was gone with a crack. Dean and Jamie followed suit.
Neville actually hadn't gone to far. He was a few streets over at a muggle magazine booth. His crimson robes where now a deep red pea coat. Underneath was a pair of black jeans and a black long sleeved sweater. It wasn't too cold since it was June but the air had a bit of a nip. "Can I get 20 Marlboro Lights?" Neville asked softly as he pulled out a few muggle bills. The man behind the counter reached under and pulled up a pack of Cigarettes. " A lighter too actually." Neville said as he peeled the bills a part and left them on the counter.
Picking up the cigarettes and lighter Neville left not worrying about the change and started walking down the sidewalk. It wasn't nearly as crowded as London but there were still quite a few people on the street. Neville stopped in front of a cafe with seats outside and he sat down. Peeling off the wrapper Neville opened the pack and withdrew a cigarette from the pack. He stuck it between his lips and stared down at it cross eyed. He thought about it for a minute. There was a part of him that was telling him not to do it. 'I'll only have a couple,' he thought to himself as he sighed and lifted the lighter to the end and lit it.
A few muggleborns in training had introduced Neville to cigarettes back when he started almost three years ago. Neville hadn't picked up the habit full time, but it was tempting. Neville leaned his head back and closed his eyes as he took a drag on the cigarette. With a small sigh Neville exhaled a small cloud of smoke. Days like today though he'd stop off before going home for the evening. He'd buy a pack find a small cafe with outside seating and smoke a few. Unfortunately days like today where becoming more and more frequent. Neville lifted the cigarette back to his lips and took another drag.
"Hello Luv," Neville opened his eyes and looked up. A kind middle aged woman with dirty blonde hair was smiling down at him. She had a purple apron tied around her waist over her white blouse. "Can I get you something?" Neville sighed and gave her a small smile.
"Yeah. Can I get a coffee with milk?" Neville asked as adjusted himself in the seat and looked at her. Neville's eyes flicked past her shoulder and he resisted the urge to frown. "I'll need tea too."
"How'd you like darling?"
"White I think." Neville responded taking another drag from his cigarette. The waitress flashed him a smile.
"Back in a second."
Neville nodded and watched as she walked away and back into the cafe. Neville's eyes slide back over to the other side of the street. This time he didn't bother to resist and he gave a scowl worthy of Snape. Across the street was woman with her arms crossed. She was average height about 5'6 with a thin figure. She didn't have wide hips or large breasts but she had lithe figure. She was staring Neville down with a look that could scare most grown men. Her dark chocolate brown eyes were boring into his as she moved to cross the street. Her formally bushy brown hair had been cut short in the style of the former Madam Bones. A small wisp of hair covered her forehead and her hair stopped at the nape of her neck. Neville took a final drag from his cigarette.
"Know it all? Really?"
"Hello Hermione," Neville said softly as he grabbed an ashtray with his finger slide it to the center of the table. Neville stuffed the cigarette out and leaned back in his chair. Neville watched as Hermione angrily pulled out the chair across from him and sat down with huff.
"You're going to come at me for your fuck up?" Hermione asked angrily. Her brown eyes seemed to shine as she bore into him.
"You called me out in front of my men. Came to my crime scene. You had no business being there. If you or your department had an issue with how this was being handled you come to me in private."
"You're the one who can't figure this out. If you just put a little more thoug-" Hermione was interrupted by the waitress.
"Oh hello dear, here you go." She set the tea down in front of Hermione before setting Neville's coffee down in front of him. "Anything else dears?"
"No thanks." Hermione said with a tight smile. She waited for the waitress to leave before turning back to Neville. "If you just put a little more thought into this case you'd figure it out. Instead of brushing it off. Honestly Neville you need to take this seriously. People are dying."
"You don't think I'm taking this seriously? Really that's what you think. You know for all those brains you can be bloody fucking ignorant sometimes." Neville roughly rubbed his mouth with his hands. "Everything I've done for the past however many weeks has been to figure this out. It's all I think about. You know this is why, this is why they," Neville stopped for a second and leaned back his head shaking. He sneered at Hermione almost snarling. "This is why everyone is done with you. Where are your friends? The Golden Trio is done with, and this is why." Neville ran his hands through his hair and clenched his fists. "You look down on all of us from some moral high ground."
"How dare you." Hermione spat with a whisper. That whisper though might as well have been a loud echoing yell.
"No! How dare you! Judging us day in and out. Disappointed in everyone that doesn't do things the Granger way. Like you're so above us; so morally superior. You make all the right choices. You never fuck up. It's why you and me are done. Even your parents can't stand you."
"Fuck you." Hermione said softly. She leaned back and crossed her arms. Hermione had a hundred of things to say, but she couldn't bring herself to say them. She wanted to yell and scream. She wanted to throw this tea right in Neville's face. It didn't happen often but Hermione was so upset she was at a loss for words.
"I'm sorry. I crossed a line just there." Neville said softly as he looked at Hermione. If Neville didn't know better he'd say she was about to cry. Neville knew though that Hermione Granger didn't cry. Not anymore. Neville reached down and drew another cigarette from the pack. Hermione reached over and did the same. Neville handed her the lighter and waited as she lit hers. He resisted the urge to chuckle when she coughed.
"These will kill you." Hermione wheezed as she exhaled. She blew the smoke over the tip of the cigarette causing it to glow.
"I know...you've told me a hundred times." Neville said softly. "I don't think I was wrong. I'm just saying I went to far."
"Yeah I know how you feel. You made it pretty clear when you dumped me." Hermione said as she took another drag. "How's Susan?"
"She's doing fine." Neville said as he took a sip from his coffee and another drag from his cigarette. "You'd think with 4 billion other women out there I'd end up dating someone who didn't go to Hogwarts. Funny isn't it how Hogwarts students all seem to end up dating. What are the odds."
"Who knows." Hermione said with a small laugh. "Guess I don't know it all." She smirked at him.
"Ha," Neville chuckled a bit. "I did fuck up. I should've checked the reports." Neville took another drag and looked out across the street. "I can't figure this one out Hermione. I need him."
"Have your reached out?"
"Yeah he refused." Neville let out a smoke filled sigh, "he has a gift for this."
"I wouldn't call it a gift." Hermione was staring at the end of her cigarette. "I doubt he'd see anything we didn't."
"You don't know that."
"Neville, please I haven't seen him in almost two years." Hermione said as she looked up at him. "I don't want to see him."
Neville finished his coffee and stood up. He slipped a few pounds out of his pocket. Neville took one last drag and tossed his cigarette into the street. "Just ask him for me please Hermione. People are dying. Harry might actually be able to be useful for a change. I know you don't owe me, but please just ask him." Neville laid the bills down and started to walk off. He stopped and placed an arm on her shoulder. Leaning down Neville placed a small kiss on her head. "Good night." Hermione didn't bother following him with her eyes.
Hermione stood there staring at her burning cigarette. She was wondering where everything had gone so wrong. Didn't she do everything right? Hermione took another drag from the cigarette before dropping it into the ashtray. Standing up she started down the street not looking back.
Hunched over a glass coffee table the man was holding a thin vial of purple potion. With shaky hands he broke off the wax cap and brought it to his lips and drank it. Once he was finished he lifted his head and let out a loud content moan. Reaching over with thin fingers and picked up cigarette. He took the filtered end of it and pressed it into the vile the cotton soaked up what was left. Sticking it between pale lips he clicked his fingers and the end ignited. Getting up he stretched and walked over to the fireplace mantel across from him. Atop of the oak mantel was a glass decanter filled with a rich amber colored whiskey. He opened it with a small pop and filled a short square glass with the liquid.
The man looked up into the small mirror on the mantel and studied himself. His dark raven hair was long and wild. It hung down to his shoulders and in his face. A dark scraggly beard covered his face and hung down from his chin. Emerald eyes that were once bright and shined with life where dull and staring back at him through square framed glasses. He lifted a pale thin hand and lifted up his dark hair. On his forehead was a pale pink scar in the shape of a lightning bolt.
"Master Harry!" A small feminine voice called out. Harry turned and looked down at the small elf that had come into the room. Winky a former Hogwarts House Elf. Winky at one point had been the Crouch Family House Elf before being set free. She worked in the Hogwarts kitchens until Harry had bonded her sometime after he joined the Auror academy.
"What?" Harry asked softly as he grabbed his glass and spun towards her. They were in the Black Family Library. It was on the first floor of Grimmauld Place. Winky and Kreacher had fixed the place up for him while he was in the Auror Academy. The snake decor had been removed and the color scheme had been updated to a more modern grey and black. The library was quite large the walls around the fireplace where line with book shelves from the floor to the ceiling. Shelves of books also stood independently in the room. There was a large circular table in the center of the room with comfortable wooden chairs. Across from the fireplace was a black leather couch and coffee table surrounded by two black armchairs.
"Master you needs to eat. Kreacher is ready to make breakfast." Winky said as she shuffled closer to him. She was looking up at him with large eyes. "Please Master it's been almost two days"
"Just a Nutrient Potion will be fine." Harry said as he took a sip of his whiskey. Harry took a drag from his cigarette and started to make his way over to the table. It was covered in several open books and at least a dozen closed ones. Bits of paper covered in Harry's scrawl where left haphazardly all over the desk. Harry was dressed in simple red bath robe and sweatpants. His pale torso was left exposed. He was as skinny as he ever had been. His skin clung to his bones like wet newspaper. With every passing day Harry came closer to resembling his late godfather.
"Master pleas-"
"Just a Nutrient Potion please." Harry reiterated harshly as he exhaled smoke. "Also bring more of the Nervaio Potion." Harry said as he tipped his glass towards the coffee table. The Nervaio Potion was something Harry had been given in the weeks after the war. It was supposed to help him with his nightmares. However things continued to get worse and worse. Soon he started taking them everyday multiple times a day. The truth was that now Harry could barely function without them.
"Yes Master," Winky whispered as she turned her head down to the floor and shuffled out of the room. Harry continued to sip his drink as he made it over the table. With a deep breath Harry shook his head trying to clear it up. Harry flopped down into a chair and pulled the closest open book to him. Kalligan's Killer Magic it was about 100 years old and filled with some of the darkest magic ever created. Harry barely left Grimmauld Place spending most of his time studying all the Dark Magic and Defense Magic he could get his hands on.
"Master." Winky said softly as she appeared next to him. She set down a silver tray with a copy of the Daily Prophet, a vial of the sickly green Nutrient Potion, and a long vial of the purple Nervaio potion.
"Thank you, Winky." Harry reached over and grabbed the Nervaio Potion. In a smooth motion and popped off the wax cap and and downed half of it. He set it back down leaning it up against a book as not to spill the rest. The he reached down and grabbed the Prophet.
Two More Bodies Found in Kettlebell Corner
The bodies of two witches were found in Kettlebell Corner on 6/18/2002. These poor young witches seem to be the latest in a long string of gruesome murders. Accounting for the known victims in France and Great Britain this brings the death toll up to 18 in the last two months alone. Currently the Lead Investigator is Auror Captain Neville Longbottom. However an unnamed source did confirm that the Unspeakables were at the latest crime scene. No real progress has been made since Neville Longbottom was assigned to the case. This of course begs the question. Is the young Auror out of his depth? Young Neville Longbottom is without a doubt a hero and a skilled Auror, but with no recent movement on the case we can't help but wonder if this is the right case for the second youngest Auror Captain ever. We reached out to Katherine Moon for a quote, but as of writing this have not received any official comment. The victims were once again found torn apart and drained of their blood. This is consistent with methodology used on previous victims in France. How long does the public have to suffer in silence? At this point in time there hasn't been any movement on the current case and the murderer is still at large. We here at the Prophet believe the people have a right to know how the investigation is going. Maybe it's time for the Unspeakables or Hit Wizards to take over the case…..
Harry through the paper to the side and pulled his book back over to him. 'Must of been the case Neville wanted me to look at.' Harry rolled his eyes and flipped the page in his book. Harry didn't have time to solve a simple murder. He was coming back soon, and Harry needed to be ready. Harry finished his whiskey and set the glass down, and flicked his cigarette away from him. The cigarette vanished in mid air Harry didn't bother pulling his eyes from the book.
Lung Puncturing Curse, Incantation: Molucotura
This curse is particularly nasty. Not only can it puncture an opponent's lung, but it can do it to several opponents at one time. This curse takes a large amount of power. However power isn't the only thing needed to perform the spell. The wand motion shown below is a circle with a jab through the center. The wand motion needs to be precise if the jabbing motion isn't done through the center of the circle the curse could fail. While performing the curse you need to picture those who you want to be affected by the curse clearly in your mind. Picture them gasping for breath, and focus on your desire to see them suffer, suffocate, and die.
Harry finished the passage and continued to read on the next few pages about the curse. The curse was created by Slovick man in the 1800's and the incantation had a slovik root. Harry read the pronunciation several times as he traced the wand movements with his finger. Harry stood from the table and drew his faithful Holly wand from his robe pocket. With confidence Harry traced a circle in the air and jabbed his wand through the center.
"Molucotura," Harry said lazily. A bright flash of orange light erupted from his wand and soared through the library. The light turned into a wide wave of orange magic that splashed against the far wall harmlessly. Harry raised his eyebrows and set his wand on the table. Harry raised his hand and narrowed his eyes. A few seconds passed and nothing happened. Harry grit his teeth and took a deep breath. Drawing his hand back he shoved it forward like he was pushing something. A bright flash of light soared from his palm. It wasn't as bright as before and when it erupted into a wave it wasn't as wide.
Harry snatched his empty glass from the table and made his way back over to mantel. He poured himself another glass of whiskey. Staring at it Harry let his thoughts trail off. 'Sirius must of stood here at one point.' Harry quickly downed the whiskey and poured himself another glass.
Harry could feel his heart beating in his chest. 'Come on, you can do better than that!'
Harry could feel the words echoing in his head. Harry felt his throat tighten and his mouth dry out.
'Severus….please.' Harry downed the rest of his whiskey with shaking hands. He felt his knees wobble.
'Look...at...me,' Harry was breathing harder now as he pushed himself up off the ledge. He took a step forward and stumbled.
Harry was back at Hogwarts. All around him a flurry of spells where whizzing back and forth. Looking around he stumbled forward tripping. His eyes shot down and he made contact with empty brown eyes. Remus was laying on the ground still with his eyes wide. A few feet away was Tonks a small cut on her head covered in dry blood. As Harry's eyes darted around he could see them all. Fred, Colin, Lavender, and dozens more. Everyone lay dead on the ground in the broken Great Hall of Hogwarts.
"Like what you see Potter?"
Harry turned and was face to face with a monster. A tall thin man with pale bone white skin. The man's face was deformed with unnatural thin lips, and where his nose should be where two slits. Harry stared into the man's scarlet eyes and froze.
"I won." the man whispered softly. He took a step forward his robes billowing around him like smoke. "You may have killed me Potter, but look at what I did to you." The man chuckled softly it was a menacing noise. It was hollow and empty. He reached out with long spider like fingers and gently clenched Harry's chin. He leaned down his nostrils flaring like a snake's ready to strike. "I killed you." He whispered his hot putrid breath rolled over Harry's face. "I killed everything you were. Soon I'll be back for your life."
"Master Harry! Master Harry! Master Harry!"
Harry gasped as he tried to catch his breath. He was on the floor of the living room on his hands and knees. His body shined with a thin coat of sweat sticking to his skin. Harry's arms shook as he tried to keep his body up. His throat was throbbing. Harry felt his arms give in and he let himself fall to the floor. Harry rolled over to his back and looked around. The library was a mess. The books had been blasted off the shelves and the tables were turned over. Harry could see a chair that had been torn apart scattered around the room.
"Master Harry," Harry turned to see Kreacher and Winky staring at him. Harry lifted himself up and backed up to the wall.
"Potion," Harry said as he tried to catch his breath. His heart was still pounding away in his chest. It was so loud he was sure they could hear shuffled forward and produced a vial of the purple potion. Harry quickly broke the cap and downed it in one swallow. The effects washed over him like a cool breeze. Within seconds his breathing evened out and his hands stopped shaking.
"Master," Kreacher said softly as he held out Harry's cigarettes. Harry took them and quickly pulled one out with his lips. Before he could do anything Kreacher snapped his fingers and Harry's cigarette ignited.
"Thank you, Kreacher." Harry said as he exhaled the smoke. "I didn't mean to startle you two." Harry said softly as he took another drag.
"Oh no no no don't say yous sorry Master Harry." Winky said as she came forward. "It's okay we is fine." Winky was wringing her hands together. "We is gonna clean this up Master Harry. Maybe you should take a bath and relax."
"Don't tell the Master what to do!" Kreacher spat at Winky as he glared at her.
"Kreacher it's okay." Harry said as he started to stand. "I think I will take a bath actually. Take your time in here I think I'm gonna get some sleep."
"Thats a good idea Master." Winky said as she started rushing around and picking up books.
"When's the last time I slept?" Harry asked as he started to move forward.
"The day before last Master." Kreacher said softly.
"Yeah I could probably use some sleep then." Harry made his way to the Library entrance and took one last look around the destroyed room and left.
A/N: I hope everyone enjoyed the first chapter of this story. Though I've written before this is the first time in a long time I've worked on a project so seriously. If you have any feedback that would be great. Thanks everyone!