Lost and found

DELILAH HAWKINS STILL MISSING AFTER RESCUE FROM THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS

BY RITA SKEETER

Delilah Hawkins, a girl known and loved by everyone, is still missing two weeks after her mysterious disappearance following her rescue from the Chamber of Secrets on the first week of the month of March. Her wand was discovered two Saturdays ago on the outside grounds of Hogwarts near the third Herbology Greenhouse where mandrakes reside. The glass windows and doors of the building were all shattered and the grass covered ground was stained with blood, surely Delilah's.

The Headmaster of Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore, would not say if anyone is a suspect in the girl's disappearance, but no one has not ruled out foul play. Below are recent pictures of Delilah Hawkins. The Ministry of Magic urge anyone with information to owl the following toll-free crime-stoppers hotline.

The address of the Ministry of Magic was circled in black spilled ink.

Yes, it had already been two weeks that Delilah Keren Aleah Dawn Hawkins had been missing, and no one in Hogwarts other than the staff and Dumbledore knew about it. Some teachers told the students that her injuries from when she had been taken to the Chamber of Secrets were too severe and had to be treated in St Mungo's hospital, others said she had left on a special quest given to her by the Ministry of Magic.

From the golden quartet, only Ron Weasley and his brothers knew about it, they didn't tell Ginny, the youngest Weasley, knowing what her reaction would be like. Hermione Granger wasn't part of a wizard family to stay updated on the wizarding news, so she wouldn't know (that's a first). Harry Potter... well, you couldn't really count on his aunt, uncle or cousin seeing as they hate everything that has to do with magic, including the word itself. Though Harry couldn't help but think something was wrong. He knew Delilah well enough. He knew she wouldn't just leave school even if the Ministry required it, or to heal at some special hospital. She can't even bear word 'hospital', and she might not be Hermione, but school was still very important to her. And most of all, he knew she would never leave him.

Dumbledore, like Harry, was worried the most. He had gone all the way to the orphanage where he had first met her in the 'States', but found nothing. He, then, had sent Hagrid and many private aurors to look for the girl he had started to look upon as a niece, a goddaughter... a granddaughter seeing as she often called him 'grandpa D'. He couldn't help but miss her which is rare since the only person he had ever missed was his sister.

Throughout those two weeks of disappearance, Delilah's life wasn't exactly what you would call 'being kidnapped into paradise'.

Her kidnapper was an idiot.

That's all she could say.

For some reason, she couldn't phase— shift, call it what you want— anymore. She didn't know why, but she just couldn't. Every time she tried, she either ended up passing out, or coughing and throwing up blood.

How did she end up this damaged?

Oh, right. Her idiotic kidnapper is to blame.

He had tortured her for five days after he took her. The only reason she was able to escape was because she had outsmarted him. She said so many things about her possible rescue that made him panic and check every inch of the building he had hidden her in.

As he disappeared, closing the door behind himself, she quickly gathered as much strength as she could and dragged herself across the floor all the way to the patched up window. She started cursing in Latin, seeing the window was patched up with huge plaques of wood.

She was weak. She couldn't shift, she couldn't use her alpha powers to create a long distance mind link and contact Dumbledore or anyone for that matter. Not even another alpha, Alpha Brian being the only other one she knew she could trust. She didn't even know where she was to see if she was close to that pack or close to Hogwarts.

She needed air and sunlight, those were the only things that could give enough strength— enough to Apparate.

Clenching her jaw, she pushed herself to her feet, slightly wobbling due to the broken bones in her legs. She lifted her hands, ignoring her right broken arm and started pulling as hard as she could. She could finally hear the wood breaking. She had to hurry, though. The idiotic unknown kidnapper would be back soon.

She collapsed, sighing in satisfaction as air blew in through the broken window and the sunlight beamed through the glass, warming her up. For the first time since she was kidnapped... since the Chamber of Secrets, her lips curled up into... a smile. A genuine smile.

Though, as soon as it appeared, it vanished as she heard the kidnapper running up the stairs. He was almost at the door of the room she was in. She quickly looked back at the sun, not caring if the ultraviolet rays burned her eyes, and focused. She focused as hard as she could and closed her eyes. The door of the room burst open but...

Delilah was long gone.

The kidnapper was furious and started cursing under his breath, finally ripping off his mask and running a hand through dark brown hair, his bright green eyes staring at the spot where she had stood before she disappeared. "Blast her." He chuckled. "She just had to be the strongest, most powerful witch in the world." No, duh. Idiot.

She fell.

That's all she could recall after her escape. She was falling down until her back hit grass covered ground, a loud crack being heard followed by a few girly gasps before everything went black.

Delilah woke up several times. She looked up and couldn't help but grimace at the sight before her. Yes, Beauxbatons Palace was a very beautiful chateau surrounded by beautiful gardens and fountains magically created out of the surrounding mountains, but she knew, from the moment Dumbledore had told her about it, that she would never want to go there, even to visit.

Yet there she landed. Woopie.

When she finally came around, she wasted no longer than a second before sprinting out of the Beauxbatons infirmary.

"Stop, you cannot leave. You are 'urt," called a voice behind her. She might've been hurt, but there was no way she was staying there any longer.

Delilah spun around only to find a beautiful girl making her way towards her. She was tall and willowy, with an air of grace that made her seem like she was gliding when she was walking and her very presence seemed to emanate a faint, silvery glow. She had long beautiful silvery blond hair, large, deep blue eyes, fair skin, a petite frame and very white, even teeth, though Delilah wasn't really impressed even in the state she was in.

"My name eez Fleur. Fleur Delacour. And az I waz zaying, you cannot leave. You are 'urt and—"

"I am sorry, Fleur. And thank you very much for your concern and hospitality, but I do not care if I am hurt, I must leave," Delilah said.

Fleur shook her head. "At least let us clean you up. You 'ave been here only a day and you are still... well, not clean."

Delilah hesitated, but gave in either way. Fleur and her little sister Gabrielle had found a liking to her and kept giggling at how clueless Delilah was about being half veela. After being as 'fresh as a daisy' and partly healed, Delilah made her way to the door. Once outside, she couldn't help but internally smile as a fresh breeze blew in.

"You 'ave to promise to stay in contact with us," Fleur said with a smile.

Delilah smiled back a small smile at the tall blond. "I promise, Fleur. As much as all this... girly stuff is not really my thing, I really like you and your sister. Thank you for taking care of me," she said sincerely.

Fleur's smile widened. "You are welcome."

"Are you sure you do not want to zee yourzelf in zhe mirror?" Gabrielle randomly asked as she and her older sister, Fleur, followed Delilah outside.

Delilah gave her a weird look. "Why are you asking me that?"

The two sisters looked at each other and giggled.

"You really are unaware of your beauty, aren't you?" Fleur said.

Delilah gave her a puzzled look. "Beauty? Me?"

Fleur rolled her eyes and flicked her wand, making a body length mirror appear. "Look at yourzelf."

Reluctantly, Delilah stepped forward only to nearly faint. Yes, she had never seen herself in a mirror— except maybe in her first year at Hogwarts when she looked into the Mirror of Erised, but even then she didn't pay attention to her own reflection until now— but she was sure she had jet black hair with light brown highlights, and extremely sure that her eyes were orange-pink morning glory-begonian, not violet orchidee with a few gray specks in them. And her skin was a whole lot paler than she remembers it being.

"Oh, my goddess of the moon, what on earth happened to me?!" she whisper-yelled. She started shaking, ignoring the pain in her body. "I have to get to Hogwarts, now!"

Before Fleur or Gabrielle could stop her, she closed her eyes and disappeared... only to land somewhere else, with someone she never thought she would meet— someone she never even thought would still be alive, or even existed...

The bed was so comfortable that Delilah didn't want to get up, though the smell of the dirty floor wasn't really helping her fall back to sleep. She slowly pushed herself up, making a mental note to thank whoever wrapped her arm in a sling and healed most of her wounds.

She was about to get off the bed when she let out a low growl as pain shot through her ribs.

"Careful, you're not completely healed yet," said a voice coming from the shadows in the corner of the room she was in.

She lied back down and took a few deep breaths, never taking her eyes off the stranger.

"Who are you?" he asked before she could even ask him that herself.

"Delilah. Delilah Dawn... Hawkins, and you are?"

A man stepped forward and she couldn't help but gasp. He was also tall and thin, with a great deal of long, stringy gray hair and beard. Delilah would've thought he was a rather grumpy-looking old man if it weren't for his kind smile that gave her rather the impression that he wasn't one who smiled often— like her.

"Aberforth Dumbledore."

So... yeah, as you might've guessed, Aberforth was grandpa D's brother. Delilah doesn't remember exactly what he's been telling her— she just remembers that he said that at some point he became the barman and owner of the Hog's Head Inn in Hogsmeade, which is where she was at presently. So basically she's not as far from Hogwarts as she thought. Oh, right, and turns out what she'd been doing all along wasn't Apparating, it was something similar that only she could do, being the strongest witch in the world. He named it something like... 'instant transmission'. Not to confuse him with grandpa D since they both shared the same last name, Delilah had decided to call him Uncle Aberforth or Uncle Ab when he started giving her lessons on how to Apparate correctly.

"Now, the three most important prospects of Apparition are the three D's!" Delilah giggled but instantly stopped when Uncle Aberforth gave her a stern look.

She smiled sheepishly. "Sorry." He chuckled and shook his head.

"What do the three D's stand for, Delilah?"

She pursed her lips and scratched the back of her neck, rummaging through her brain. "They stand for... Destination... Determination and Deliberation!"

He beamed at her and nodded. "Yes. Now, I want you to first, look at that hoop and only it. Then, focus on it, it's your Destination! Second, be Determined to get there, and third, Deliberation! Try it now!"

She nodded then mentally face-palmed herself; she forgot what Deliberation means.

"Alright!" she whispered, squeezing her eyes shut.

"Destination. Let's see, my hoop is about six feet away," she thought. "The left hand corner of the living room. Check. Determination. Self-pep talk will work. Go, Deli! I am going to get inside that hoop. I want to get inside that hoop. I will get inside that hoop. And... er... Deliberation... well..."

"DELIBERATE!" she shouted, spinning on her heel. Nothing.

"Shoot!" she grumbled, feeling stupid. Uncle Ab looked at her with amusement twinkling in his eyes. It had been going that way for the past three days. "I just shouted deliberate, did I not?"

He nodded. She turned around and tried to do it again. "Hoop. Six feet, back corner. I'm going there. Now. Spin and deliberate! I actually moved! I moved about three feet. Half way there! Wait... three feet. That's nothing, dang it!"

Uncle Ab chuckled. "More deliberation, Delilah."

She scowled. "Load of bull. Deliberation! Pft! I don't need deliberation! I don't need to Apparate! I'll just use the 'instant transmission' thing I apparently already do or... a transport charm, or a portkey. Floo network! The best yet, I'll use a dang broom!"

He shook his head, chuckling softly. "Just try again, Delilah."

Delilah pouted, but nodded. She took a deep breath, spun on her heel and found herself just outside her hoop. More deliberation. She walked back to the spot she was standing and took another deep breath. She closed her eyes and concentrated as hard as she could.

"Hoop. Six feet, back corner. I'm going there. Now. Spin and deliberate!"

She opened her eyes and squealed, but then started panicking when she saw she was in a room she did not recognize. A bedroom more precisely. After a few confused seconds of looking around, a door opened and a... shirtless guy walked in. They looked at each other and screamed. Delilah was completely freaking out that she threw herself onto the floor and hid under the bed that was right in the middle of this gigantic room.

"Who're you and vat 're you doing 'ere?" he asked.

"Can you put on more clothes before I answer any of whatever you just said?" she pleaded. "Because, hiding under a bed is really not all that comfortable."

He sighed. "I'm done," he said.

Delilah hesitated a bit but then finally got out of her uncomfortable hiding spot. The boy standing before her was thin, dark, and sallow-skinned, with a large curved nose and thick black eyebrows. He looked like an overgrown bird of prey yet he had quite an innocent look on his face, making it evident that he was probably around sixteen or seventeen years old.

Once he had a better sight of Delilah, his eyes widened. He cleared his throat and grabbed her hand. "I am Viktor Krum," he said, planting a small kiss on it, making Delilah slightly blush.

She smiled, relieved that he wasn't a creeper. "Delilah Hawkins," she said.

He smiled back then smirked. "So vat exactly vere you doing 'ere in my bedroom?"

Her blush darkened as she put her hands in the pockets of her jeans and giving him a sheepish smile. "I was learning how to Apparate... but I guess I put in a little bit too much of a Deliberation."

He laughed. This guy was actually great, though she really couldn't wait for tomorrow. Hopefully she'll be back at Hogwarts before her second year ends. Delilah owled uncle Aberforth but he couldn't come until an hour later so she talked with Viktor and learned a lot of more things about him. He even gave her a few tips for playing better at Quidditch. She still couldn't believe that she Apparated as far as Bulgaria. It's shocking, but... cool. When uncle Aberforth finally arrived, Viktor and Delilah promised to stay in contact and with that, she was back at uncle Ab's place and called it a night. Though Delilah did not sleep, despite her exhaustion. She couldn't get Hogwarts out of her head... and thinking of it, she even wondered a few times what had happened to her robes as she remembered having them on before she was kidnapped. Now she only had the pair of jeans and her long sleeved shirt that surprisingly survived the whole time.

When morning finally came around, the first thing uncle Ab said right after breakfast was, "Not too much Deliberation, because Hogwarts isn't as far as Bulgaria. And don't forget, focus mostly on your Destination."

Delilah pouted and whined a lot, but nodded as she walked over to the spot she stood in yesterday.

"Alright!" she whispered, squeezing her eyes shut.

"Destination. Let me see, Hogwarts is not so faraway, through the left alleyway, past the bridge. Check. Determination. Self-pep talk still works. You can do it, Deli! I am going to get inside to Hogwarts. I want to get inside that damned school. I will get inside that dang blasted school. And since I still do not know what Deliberation means so..."

"DELIBERATE!" she shouted, spinning on her heel.

She felt sick to her stomach and dizzy, but she didn't throw up. Not like anything would come out anyway, she had barely eaten anything for breakfast.

She didn't understand anything after she landed somewhere unknown to her. It all happened so quickly that it all seemed to a be nothing but a blur to Delilah, but the thing she remembers perfectly was looking back into a familiar pair of violet orchidee eyes and hearing,

"Oh, my goddess of the moon, Delilah... you're alive."

Then hell broke loose.

Everyone was fighting. Many had shifted into large wolves while a cloaked figure remained watching Delilah with an intense gaze as she fought as well, ignoring the confusion that had overtaken her. She was about to be hit from the back, but she quickly sidestepped the attack, grabbed the attacker by the neck and twisted.

Time seemed to stop.

Her eyes widened as she quickly let go of the now limp body she had been holding. She couldn't believe it. Sure, she had fought the previous summer alongside a pack of shifters against werewolves, but she never killed. She only attacked to defend or seriously injured, but she never killed in her life.

For the first time in a forever, as she felt her body change form, she didn't feel pain as her arms turned into golden wings and her body shrunk. She looked down at herself and realized she had just turned into her fifth soul animal.

A phoenix.

Though right now wasn't the time to phase, she had to fight. Concentrating with a bit of difficulty, she turned back into her human self, her first murder rushing back into her mind. Delilah spit the crimson iron tasting liquid on the floor, still internally freaking out about her first kill, before looking up at the strange cloaked figure.

"Where is it, Delilah?" said the man hidden beneath a crimson red cloak.

Delilah narrowed her eyes at him as she collected as much saliva and blood she could before she spit it out again; her throat was starting to burn. "I have no idea what you are talking about."

His face might've been hidden beneath the cloak, but you could still see his features growing angry. In less than a second, he stood in front of Delilah, raised his hand and let it come in contact with her face. She couldn't deny it: that slap hurt like hell.

But the cloaked man wasn't the only one who was angry.

"I do not know what in hell you are talking about!" Delilah yelled at him as he raised his hand once more. This time, slim leather hit her across the face, making more blood collect in her mouth.

"Liar!" he said as he swung at her once again. Blood trickled down her chin as it dripped down onto her black jeans.

"I am not lying!" she screamed back at him.

The man grabbed a fistful of her hair and yanked her head back, bringing his lips to her ear. "If you don't tell me where the damn moonstone is, then I will kill every member of your stupid little pack."

Delilah's vision became as red as her eyes. "They're already dead," she said in the deadliest voice she had ever used.

Nothing was moving in slow motion. Instead, the adrenaline rush seemed to make the brain of every witness work much faster, and they were all able to absorb in clear detail several things at once.

But of more immediate importance was the bloody organ in Delilah's hand. Her eyes went back to their normal violet orchidee and widened as realization slapped her across the face as hard as the whip had.

Delilah, a thirteen year old girl, just killed two people.

Yes, they might've been monsters... and evil, but they still had hearts— hearts that beat.

Dropping the heart, she stumbled onto her feet and started stepping backwards in terror, in fear of herself.

"What did I do?" she started mumbling, gripping her head, not caring that her hands were covered in blood. "I just ki— I wasn't— this wasn't supposed to— oh, my goddess..."

"Shh," hushed a gentle voice. Soon, Delilah found herself being held in a warm embrace. "It's okay, Lilah. You didn't mean—"

"So? That doesn't make a difference!" Delilah was shaking now. "Even an alpha shouldn't... I-I just ki... I don't want to remember this... I want to forget..."

Cynthia Dawn Hayes looked at her niece with sad eyes. Delilah reminded her so much of her twin Ella-Grace when she had lost her mind after loosing her mark. She regretted every day not being able to help her sister that night, if only she had made it back to Anima Curatoria in time, maybe they wouldn't have been dead and Delilah wouldn't have been an orphan. She couldn't deny that she was still extremely shocked to find out that her niece was alive and turned out being a witch, unlike her.

Cynthia was a squib.

It should've been considered humiliating to be the only squib in a family of pure-blood witches and wizards, but their family never cared about that. If you were part of the family from the start, you stayed part of the family no matter how you turned out. Her husband, Carl Hayes, was also a wizard, but he rarely used any of his magic, he mostly spent his life looking after his own pack of shifters, taking his role as Alpha of the Starlight Pack very seriously. Cynthia, being a squib, had learned in her earlier years how to do magic like a regular witch, though she was less powerful than one so whenever she did use magic, it was mostly the wiccan magic that had been in her side of the family for generations, and was more powerful than a witch's or wizard's power combined. You didn't even need a wand to use it.

As Cynthia was thinking about the past, going through many ups and downfalls of life, it wasn't until the thirteen year old Delilah looked like a three year old baby again that she realized what was going on. Cynthia smiled. Delilah wasn't her child, but she did always want to have a daughter, to give her son a sister, to give her husband the chance to look down at a little girl and get to call her 'daddy's little girl'.

"You probably already forgot, and I am truly sorry you had to go through the worst your whole life, but I promise you, Delilah, I will do my best to make your life a paradise... I will give you the family you lost... the one you never got to have."

Delilah didn't understand completely what was going on as her mind was blank; every memory of everything she lived, of everything she went through was gone. All she could make out was that her name was Delilah, and that after being lost for so long... she was found.

Though even as a toddler, something kept nagging her... the things she somehow still remembered.

Her name was Delilah Keren Aleah Dawn... Hawkins.

She was a thirteen year old... baby, did that make sense? No. "I'm going to stick with the fact that I'm a baby and forget I was somehow thirteen," she thought as Cynthia place a strange white stone hanging from a pure silvery string... the moonstone those cloaked figures had been looking for. She let it hang beside a beautiful golden locket that had a heart-shaped diamond on it.

Cynthia Dawn looked down at the three year old looking girl who was surely two, and couldn't help but think,

"Ius Rex... Those bastards. They have been after you since before you were born, but were too cowardly to come themselves. Hopefully with me, you won't have to go through the same again. I know I am being selfish, but you will be my daughter. Hopefully, that way you will be less in danger."

What she didn't know was that, some people's fates just can't be changed... Especially not Delilah's.

Unfortunately, things started changing again, six days after she lost her memory.

Delilah couldn't make sense of how quickly she was growing— how quickly she was celebrating her birthdays... aren't they supposed to be once a year instead of once every three or four weeks? Her mom seemed to know the answer, but she never said anything about it... and... well, Delilah never really dared herself to ask.

It was on the week of her second birthday, when it all happened.

"Momma?" she had asked her the night before her birthday. There, by the fire place in their living room, was a two seated sofa that was occupied by Cynthia and Delilah.

"Yes, sweetheart?" Cynthia asked, looking down at her lovingly as Delilah snuggled up beside her. She looked a lot like her mom. They shared the same pale skin and violet orchidee eyes, though for some reason, Delilah had a few gray specks in hers and Cynthia's hair was dark brown almost black while hers was light brown.

"Can you tell me a bit more about the magic stuff you and daddy do?" she asked.

Cynthia chuckled. "Well, Lilah, there isn't really much to say other than the fact that witches and wizards do exist, but of course they are nothing like they are in fairytales."

Delilah giggled and jumped off the sofa to stand in front of her mom. "Of course not! You're nothing like those ugly witches. You're beautiful! You could even be a queen!" she exclaimed herself, throwing her her hands up in the air.

"Calm down, Dels. You're gonna wake gramps up," said my older brother, Andrew, as he came to sit beside their mom. Andrew had hair as dark as Cynthia's, dark yet pale skin like Delilah, though his eyes were a green figi color, like their dad's, Carl.

Delilah slammed her hands over her mouth and giggled as she heard her grandpa, her daddy's dad, snoring loudly from his room. "Oops."

Andrew laughed. "You never change, Dels, do you?"

She grinned at him. "Nope!"

He chuckled and shook his head. "Good. Don't." Delilah, then, crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes as she thought.

"Momma, am I a witch?"

Her mom smiled down at her and hesitated for a moment before replying, semi-truthfully. "We don't know, sweetheart. The powers emerging from can probably only be your gifts from your sou— your shifter side."

"If I was, would I be able to look like my true age?" Delilah asked, tilting her head to the side.

"Why don't you try?" Andrew said.

"That doesn't sound like such a bad idea," Carl said as he joined them, sitting on the sofa's armrest beside the Cynthia.

"I don't think she sh—"

"It wouldn't hurt to give it a try, Cynthia," he said, cutting her off.

Cynthia sighed. "Alright, Carl."

They turned to look at Delilah and she smiled brightly. "Awesome! I'm tired of being a one year old who looks like a nine year old."

She took a deep breath then closed her eyes. Her brows furrowed and her lips curled down into a frown as her body went stiff. After a few minutes she could feel her body starting to shrink. Opening her eyes, she looked at her appearance in the mirror that hung above the fireplace then scowled.

"Never mind, I look retarded," she muttered before growing back up but only until she looked like a five year old. She frowned and turned to her family in confusion.

"It seems that your body has decided to adapt the appearance of your five year old self and slow down the growing process," her dad said.

They all looked at each other with similar serious expressions on their faces for a few minutes then grinned at each other. That was one of the best nights of her life, though the next night... let's just say it ended her happily ever after.

The walls of her bedroom were painted purple— one had a 'Happy 2nd birthday!' banner hanging on it— the sealing was spiked in a very decorative way and the floor was wooden. Delilah was, as usual, snuggled by her mom's side on a queen sized bed.

"Momma? Are we in danger?" she asked in her two year old voice, fiddling with the necklace she had been given... she couldn't exactly remember when while eyeing the golden locket hanging beside it with a frown. She never knew how she had it, nor did anyone.

Cynthia smiled sadly at her. "Yes, sweetheart. But I promise it will be over soon," she said, holding her tighter against her. Sighing in relief at the news, Delilah snuggled deeper into her blankets and tightened her hold on her. She had a feeling that even if she said that, something bad was going to happen. Delilah was scared. She was scared and felt so vulnerable as she knew, being one of the youngest in the pack, she didn't know how to fight. They hadn't taught her, so there was no way she could help protecting the pack.

"Momma, I don't want to lose you, daddy or Andrew," she whispered in a tiny voice.

"You won't, Dels, I promise," Cynthia assured her, kissing her forehead before singing that song she sings to her every night.

"Just close your eyes, the sun is going down

You'll be alright, no one can hurt you now

Come morning light

You and I'll be safe and sound...."

She didn't get the time to go on as the glass from Delilah's window broke and smoke suddenly filled her nostrils. Everything happened so fast that all she remembers was running out of the now burning house and getting slightly lost.

"Mommy, daddy! Where are you?" she shouted, coughing roughly because of the smoke. She looked around, panicked and confused.

"Run, Lilah, run!" someone shouted.

Delilah turned, looking for her cousin. "Kyle? Where are you?"

"Doesn't matter, just run and don't let them catch you!" his sister, Kayla, shouted.

"No, Kayla! I can't leave you guys here!" Delilah protested.

Kayla ran up to her and grabbed her by the shoulders. "Dels, you're brave and loyal, and I love you for that, little cous, but you need to get out of here, now!" she shouted over the roaring flames as hooded figures started approaching them.

"B-but, I—"

"Come on, let's go!" Andrew shouted, grabbing Delilah's arm and dragging her towards the forest which seemed to be their only way out. The hooded figures split up and few came after them.

Suddenly, something caught onto to Andrew's shoulder and yanked him back away from her. Delilah stopped and shouted, "Andrew!"

"Don't stop, just keep going!" he shouted before she was surrounded by the hooded figures.

"No! I ca—"

"GO!" he managed to shout before a pair of pair hands twisted his neck, creating an ear splitting 'crack' before dropping his now limp body, causing Delilah to scream out in pain.

"ANDREW!"

"DELILAH, RUN!" her dad shouted.

So she did.

She ran.

She ran away from the other children's cries. She ran away from a war they couldn't win. She ran away and let her mother, her father, her brother... her family die.

Now, she regrets ever running.

She ran till she couldn't anymore. It was too dark for her to see— her senses weren't enhanced yet. She ran and after she knew she was far enough, she let herself fall onto the ground that was now muddy because of the rain she had just realized was falling. She couldn't run any further. She felt like she was dying, and even though she wasn't, she wanted to.

She wanted to die. She wanted to join the others... but guess that wasn't going to happen any time soon. Her whole body wasn't responding anymore and she was now being engulfed by darkness. She didn't fight it this time as she thought...

Why does this feel like a déjà vu?

After awakening, she kept running. She ran for a long time, not really knowing for how long― probably a week had passed since she started running― or even where to go, the only stop being when she was kidnapped by a bunch of cloaked figures, though the fact that these cloaked dudes fought with sticks made me relax, knowing they weren't the same as the ones from the night of her 'birthday'.

Though her relief soon vanished as she sensed the same dark atmosphere coming from these hooded figures.

"Tell me, where is he?! Where is the boy?!" shrieked and ear-piercing voice.

There, within the crowd, Delilah lied on the floor, not really knowing how she got there. She didn't remember being beaten up— was she that weak?

She curled her hands into fists and clenched her jaw. "I don't know," Delilah snarled, though her voice sounded broken.

The woman shrieked. "Crucio!" she shouted, pointing her stick at Delilah.

The girl screamed.

The pain was so intense, so all-consuming, that she no longer knew where she was— not that she even knew it before—white-hot knives were piercing every inch of her skin, of her scars that she'd had since 'birth' for some unknown reason, reopening them, her head was surely going to burst with pain; Delilah was screaming more loudly by the second.

I'm going to die, was all she kept repeating in her head when her vision got blurry and suddenly, she was no longer in the forest.

"This is my dream, I can leave when I want to," said a voice that sounded quite oddly familiar... like her.

"You are not going anywhere. You. Will. Join. Me," hissed someone else— a man.

"Yes, sure, in your wildest madman dreams. Go to... Tartarus! I will never join you. I do not care what powers I have that you want," the girl— Delilah— growled.

"Hmm... perhaps this will change your mind, princess," he mocked before shouting, "Crucio!"

The pain was so intense, so all-consuming, that Delilah no longer knew where she was— not that she even knew it before—white-hot knives were piercing every inch of her skin, of her scars, reopening them, her head was surely going to burst with pain; she was screaming more loudly than she'd ever screamed in her life—

"Devine. Ego non iunctio vos. Ego non. Devine!" she shouted. Why was she shouting in another language?

Suddenly, her eyes fluttered open and she stared at the ugly woman. Delilah was beyond enraged. She knocked out the people who held her down and threw them against a few trees then turned to the woman who was now staring at her in shock and slight fear.

"What is your name?" Delilah demanded in a tone she had never used before.

She gave Delilah a look, still pointing her stupid stick at her. "Bellatrix Lestr—"

"Bellatrix Lestrange, you will forget all of this happened as well as your accomplices and leave."

Her expression went blank for a few seconds before they all disappeared leaving Delilah to continue her lonesome journey with no specific destination. Time went on and for some reason, she just couldn't get it out of her head that she was now 'five' years old.

She was eating wild berries, not caring if they were poisonous when she suddenly smelt them. Forgetting the berries, she followed the scent. Delilah climbed up a very big pine tree and saw a man, who appeared to be in his mid-thirties, and a boy who seemed to be around twelve or thirteen years old just standing there. To her shock they were facing a horse sized dark brown wolf who seemed very hungry. A rogue werewolf.

As the wolf was about to pounce, Delilah jumped from the tree and attacked it. As they were fighting, she made sure to examine the wolf, to learn it tactics and ways of fighting. She realized that it seemed to be trying to figure out a way to go around her and attack the... humans. Finally deciding himself, he clawed Delilah's arm, making her scream in pain before bouncing towards the man and boy who were slammed, the next second, against a tree. She suddenly started to shake violently, though it was not out of fear that she was doing so. She started panting and then gasped in pain as she could hear the breaking of her bones, each one by one, blood rushing everywhere.

Crack!

Seconds later, an ear-splitting ripping sound erupted from her, and where her hands once were, were now pure silvery paws. She didn't take her time to admire herself, she simply attacked the brown one with so much rage that she injured it and made it run away. Coward.

She looked back and suddenly felt light headed as her vision got blurry. She hadn't realized she phased back until she was about to collapse onto the ground only to be caught by two pairs of arms.

They found her... when she was lost, though, let's just say, when it came to believing she would never lose someone again, she got her hopes up too quickly...