Hello again, I would just like to thank all of the people who reviewed, followed, and favorite my story. I appreciate all of your support.
I would also like to thank Marinka for a very interesting guess as to who the Dark Lady is, great guess!
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or The Darkness Within
Chapter 1: Calm before the storm
Damy's POV
My first week as a seventh year was unexpectedly dull. I suppose without the hype of having someone trying to kill you every two seconds time can really go by slow. Classes are long and tedious, almost everything the professors are teaching us I already know. Harry went over everything I could possibly want to know last summer.
Most of my friends weren't in my year so my classmates are distant. I have a few friends I've always talked to during class, but I tended to avoid them outside of school so we aren't exactly best mates. I think the worst part of school this year is I don't get to see Harry. You would think that after thirteen years of not having a brother I would be able to last one week without him, you would be wrong. It's been nearly a week since we last talked and we never made up after our fight. I keep expecting him to pop out of nowhere for another surprise attack, but he just doesn't. As much as I hated when he did that before, I would welcome it now.
I am walking towards the moving staircases when I feel a gentle hand grip my shoulder. I turn to my left to see who it is. Suddenly my stomach is clenched in tight knots and my heart starts beating wildly. This only occurs around one person. Ellie Crestwood, a muggleborn witch that transferred to Hogwarts last year. I look up at her with a goofy grin plastered on my face. She has thin honey colored hair that comes down around her pale face in waves. Her eyes are sky blue and full of light, and she always seems to be in a good mood, which never fails to cheer me up instantly. She is extremely kind and hardworking, which makes sense considering she's a Hufflepuff. She smiles back at me and a blush begins to cover her cheeks lightly. The sight of it makes my knees weak.
"Hi Damy." A voice like honey spills from Ellie's mouth.
"Hey, uh, Elle. What, uh, what's go-going on?" I finally mange to say, though the last of my sentence is barely audible. She just giggles sweetly and smiles up at me.
"I just saw you walking up to the dormitories and wanted to catch you before you went in, seems I caught you just in time." I only manage to smile because my nervousness has impaired my ability to speak.
"I was hoping you might want to hang out with me this weekend. I mean a bunch of the Hufflepuffs. We were going to Honeydukes this weekend and I thought you might join us?"
"Hufflepuffs at Honeydukes…hah, hah." I clear my throat awkwardly at my horrible joke. Ellie just stares at me for a moment before bursting into a fit of giggles. I have to admit that the sound of her laugh makes me think of bliss.
"You're funny." She states with a fond smile on her face. I scratch the nape of my neck nervously and blush slightly.
"I'd love to go!" I shout at her. After realizing how loud I was I smile sheepishly. "Sorry, I mean, that'd be great." She smiles at me widely.
"I'll... I mean we'll see you tomorrow." She comes to a stop inches away from me and slowly leans in. My eyes go wide and I brace myself. She reaches forward to give me a quick hug and is gone just as quickly as she came. I stare after her for a full minute when I feel another hand land on my shoulder. I turn around quickly to see my dad smirking down at me.
"What?" I ask defensively, worried he saw what just happened with Ellie.
"I know that look." He says matter-of-factly.
"I don't know what you're talking about." I retort.
"Oh, of course not, they never do." He winks coyly at me and starts making kissing sounds. I push him away instantly.
"Ugh, Dad, stop it." He laughs hysterically. "You're mad."
"And you're madly in love." He retorts. My eyes widen at the mention of the word love, and I quickly turn to walk away from him but he turns me back around with an apologetic look.
"I'm sorry if I embarrassed you Damy. Please forgive me." Although the first bit seemed sincere I can't help but think the last part had a teasing edge to it. I roll my eyes and dismiss him with a wave of my hand.
"Did you need something, Dad?"
"Oh yes, I'd almost forgotten. Your mother requests our presence for a family dinner. Suppose she'd like to know how your first week has gone. What do you say, Damy, you coming?"
"Sure just let me drop my schoolbooks off and I'll be right there. Meet you in Mum's room?"
"Don't take too long; you know how your mother gets."
"Oh, sod off. It's you who's always the impatient one."
…
Harry's POV
Mum and I are sitting at the table in her room quietly sipping at our tea when she seems to remember something.
"Oh, yes, I almost forgot to tell you. I've told James to fetch Damy for dinner. Would you like to stay as well?"
I look up at her, uncertainty gleaming in my emerald orbs.
"I don't know, Mum, as much as I would love that, I don't think that Damy wou-"
"Oh nonsense, of course he wants to see you. " Mum interrupts. I give her a pointed look but her expression never falters.
"I'm not just saying that, Harry, he's looked positively miserable all week long. Besides, you can't stay mad at him forever, he's your brother and he loves you."
I give her an exasperated look. "I'm not mad at him anymore. I just-"
"Oh, no, no, no. Enough excuses, please stay? For me?" She looks up at me with a pout on her face and I shake my head with an exhausted expression.
"Oh, alright!" I state, and she smiles widely, and claps her hands excitedly.
"Anyway." I state sternly, her face sobers up instantly.
"Oh, right. What have you found out, dear?" I lean in and lower my voice a few octaves."
"I wasn't able to find out this so called, "Dark Lady's" real name, but I did find out that she does have followers. I'm not sure yet if she has a name for them as well, but it's something right."
"I suppose, but, that's all you've been able to find out, after a whole week of researching her?" I sigh inwardly and nod.
"Whoever she is, she's good at keeping her secrets buried." After a long moment of us just staring at each other in eerie silence the door bursts open and I am on my feet instantly. I sit back down when I realize it's only my dad. He looks over at me with a surprised expression on his face.
"Harry, when did you get here?"
"Oh, just about twenty minutes ago. I was going to stay for dinner, if that's all right." Dads face morphs into a huge smile and he pats my back gently.
"Of course it's all right. We've all missed you." He states fondly and I smile up at him. I look around and notice Damy is not with him. I give him a questioning stare.
"Oh right, Damy was just dropping off his school books. He should be up in a bit." His gaze lands on Mum. "Actually, we could probably just go ahead and start without-"
Her glare is enough to stop him mid-sentence.
"No, we are not starting until everyone has arrived. You can, however, set up the table, sweetheart." Her last word has a bitterly sweet edge to it and I can't hold back the smirk that glitters on my face. At their antics I suddenly remember Ginny. I had told I would be home for dinner.
"Mum, do you have room for Ginny to join us?"
"Of course, dear, why don't you run and fetch her?" I nod my head in agreement and head towards the door, at that moment, a figure comes crashing through the door and knocks me off of my feet. I look up suddenly to see Damy's flustered face just above me. He gives me a sheepish smile and quickly stands up.
"I guess I finally caught you by surprise, eh, Harry?" After a short contemplative pause I look up at him, rise to my feet with a huge grin on my face, and punch him playfully on the arm.
"Who says I didn't let you?" He rolls his eyes, but chuckles nonetheless.
"Come off it. You know you were scared." My eyebrows rise in surprise at the use of the word scared.
"Are you going to stay for dinner, Harry?" I couldn't help but notice a sense of pleading in his tone.
"Yes, I'm just on my way to fetch Ginny." Without another word, I apparate to the cottage I share with Ginny in Hogsmeade.
The first thing I notice is how quiet the house seems. I take a look around only to notice that Ginny isn't here. Strange, she's always home by now. I decide to take a look outside to see if she just wandered into Hogsmeade whilst waiting for me. I walk outside to see that it seems as if the streets are much too quiet, almost deserted. I hear a quiet, eerie hum. As if the street's aglow with a dark energy I don't recognize. I walk down the deserted street and my eyes land into the distance, where I can see a faint, dark purple light. This particular shade of purple is the darkest I've ever seen, it's almost black. It glows with an almost malevolent air. I take a weary step back as I stare at the light with an almost trance like look on my face. I feel as if that light could suck the very life out of me. It makes me feel extremely uneasy. I am starting to worry for Ginny immensely.
"Who are you?" I hear a voice like silk utter with an unquestionable superiority. I turn my head slightly to the left, and that's when I see her. This must be the woman that calls herself, 'The Dark Lady'. I can see why she chose this name, and despite myself, I feel drawn to her, she is stunning in every way, yet undeniably deadly at the same time.
Her face is flawlessly pale, shining almost as bright as the moon itself. Her hair comes around her face in a mass of neat curls. Her hair is midnight black with a few dark purple streaks weaving through it. All of these features are stunningly perfect and mesmerizing, but none of them compare to the sight that meets me in her eyes. There is no other way to describe them but violent purple. It's almost as if a storm is brewing within them. Her figure is slim, yet curvy. She wears unsurprisingly dark purple robes, with hints of black around her chest, and she also wears a pendent around her neck, that is glowing with terrible power. I look back up to her face and notice that her gaze is still upon me, questioning.
"I will repeat myself only once, who are you?" I stare up at her, overwhelmed. She is not at all what I expected, and I find myself completely unable to speak. Her face only shows a sliver of annoyance but quickly is again swiped of all emotion.
"I wonder how it is that you are standing here. Most wizards are entranced by my spell. They do everything and anything the light tells them to do, and yet you do not. I know this because the spell I cast has only one request, your absence from Hogsmeade. Yet here you stand." Her perfectly manicured hand gestures to where I'm standing. "How is that you can resist, child?" Venom has now entered her voice, and I can finally see true anger shining through her stormy eyes. My eyes also darken in anger at being referred to as a mere child. Although she is more formidable then I had first anticipated, this, however, does not mean that she is any match for me. My darkened emerald orbs land on her with violent malice leaking through them. Recognition lands in her eyes, and suddenly there is no trace of anger in them. Her eyes are alight with fascination and she gracefully steps forward.
"I understand now, you are Harry Potter, the so-called, 'Dark Prince'. Now I see why my spell did not work." After a moment hesitation, she seems to be contemplating something, she suddenly looks up again. "Do you wish to cause me harm, Harry?"
I give her an uneasy look at the use of my first name.
"That would depend on your intentions. You are quite skilled at keeping secrets." She smirks widely at my compliment. "What're you playing at?" Her grin grows maliciously.
"You will see soon enough, Harry, far be it for me to ruin the surprise for you." I only glare at her in return. "Though I confess myself confused at your continued presence here, I am sure your dear family is missing you terribly. Your sweet mother Lily and you daring father, James, and, let us not forget your charmingly adorable brother, Damien." Her eyes are alight with something akin to happiness when she says Damy's name. It makes me seethe with anger. My eyes darken another shade and I step forward menacingly when I hear a voice off in the distance.
"Harry!" The voice shouts. It seems to have caught this Dark Lady's attention as well.
"What is this? Do we have company?" She asks sarcastically, with a dramatic wave of her hand, the purple light in the distance diminishes significantly. As the light begins to fade mist rises up through the air and a figure emerges from within the mist.
Cliffhanger! You got to love them! I am sorry it has been so long since I last reviewed. I just got a new job and I was trying to focus on that for a bit, but I am back now and I will try to update more regularly. I hope for my future chapter to be much longer than this one, but it just felt like a good stopping point and I do love cliffhangers. Can anyone take a guess at whose voice called out to Harry? Please, I'd love to hear your guesses! Also, please review and let me know what you think of the story so far. Have a great day and thank you for reading!
{00819609- }
