A/N Hello all! As promised, I've put together part three and am not going to make you all wait for a month to see it. It's much longer than the last two, and hopefully works out just right.
I may put in a few more extracts like this one to show how time passes on the HP side of things...
The following piece is from chapter 37 of book five, in case anyone wants to look on.
Thank you to henxu for your review; I hope this one will be long enough for you.
…...
Fauna
Harry's feet hit solid ground; his knees buckled a little and the golden wizard's head fell with a resounding clunk to the floor. He looked around and saw that he had arrived in Dumbledore's office.
Everything seemed to have repaired itself during the Headmaster's absence. The delicate silver instruments stood once more on the spindle-legged tables, puffing and whirring serenely. The portraits of the headmasters and headmistresses were snoozing in their frames, heads lolling back in their armchairs or against the edge of the picture. Harry looked through the window. There was a cool line of pale green along the horizon; dawn was approaching.
The silence and the stillness, broken only by the occasional grunt or snuffle of a sleeping portrait, was unbearable to him. If his surroundings could have reflected the feelings inside him, the pictures would have been screaming in pain. He walked around the quiet, beautiful office, breathing quickly, trying not to think. But he had to think... there was no escape...
It was his fault Sirius had died; it was all his fault. If he, Harry, had not been stupid enough to fall for Voldemort's trick, if he had not been so convinced that what he had seen in his dream was real, if he had only opened his mind to the possibility that Voldemort was, as Hermione had said, banking on Harry's love of playing the hero...
It was unbearable, he would not think about it, he could not stand it... there was a terrible hollow inside him he did not want to feel or examine, a dark hole where Sirius had been, where Sirius had vanished; he did not want to have to be alone with that great, silent space, he could not stand it –
A picture behind him gave a particularly loud grunting snore, and a cool voice said, "Ah... Harry Potter..."
…...
Sirius jerked back into consciousness at the sound of rustling coming from his left. He sat up abruptly, bleary eyed, scanning through the undergrowth nearby to determine what was there. Sirius fished his wand out of his coat pocket, assuming a firm grip over it in case this intruder was dangerous. His wards that he had placed were only protecting the small area around himself and his campfire – he didn't include the surrounding bushes, as he had figured it wouldn't be necessary. He began to regret that decision.
The rustling grew louder, shaking those bushes about wildly. Sirius stumbled to his feet to meet the threat, hoping that he would be able to dispatch this unknown foe before it could get to him. He didn't know enough about this place to feel particularly confident towards the upcoming encounter. Sirius pointed his wand at the bush and waited with baited breath for what he was sure would come.
The noise stopped. Sirius tightened his grip on his wand, his gaze still fixed on the now still branch. He crept closer. A blur of white flashed past him, startling Sirius. He was forced to take a step backwards, tripping over the remains of his campfire that had long since burned out. His eyes scanned the perimeter to find the attacker. The discovery surprised him when he finally spotted it.
It was a rabbit. Sirius blinked owlishly, momentarily stunned and having a strange urge to laugh. He gave in, chucking at how ridiculous the encounter turned out, yet relieved that it was nowhere near as life threatening as he'd imagined it could be. The appearance of this critter set him at ease; this small rabbit reassured him that even if much was different here in this strange forest, there would always be something familiar to remind him of home. Although he was surprised that a rabbit had been the one to quell his anxieties, it was also a relief.
Sirius felt a pang of home sickness wash over him like a tidal wave. Something so insignificant caused him to think back to the days when he attended Hogwarts, where such small, docile creatures were fairly abundant on the castle grounds as well as the forbidden forest – and those were places he was extensively familiar with.
He shook his head to dispel those thoughts, reluctant to dwell on anything even remotely upsetting for too long. And nostalgia was sure to be one of those. Glancing back down at the rabbit before him, Sirius smiled, glad that so far, everything was alright. He reseated himself on the soft grass and leaf litter on the forest floor, watching the hare as it bounded back through the brush and out of sight. Sirius continued to gaze at the spot for a few moments, lost in thought. He was content that there was at least one thing around here that he would be able to recognise.
Setting his gaze up overhead, Sirius squinted, shading his eyes from the bright sunlight streaming in through the trees. He guessed that it was most likely mid morning, as the light wasn't bearing down on him like it had been when he'd woken up the day before – rather, it seemed to be coming in from an angle. Sirius sighed, resigning himself to yet another day of trekking through bushes, raised tree roots and piles of leaf litter.
Might as well get started, then. Sirius thought to himself. Maybe this time I'll run into someone.
Sirius knew that his chances of meeting anyone within the next twenty four hours in such a large area of land were quite slim. This did not deter him from hoping, however. To be more to the point, Sirius had wanted the past day to have been nothing more than a dream, with him waking up back in his room at Grimmauld Place. He'd even be glad to see Kreacher right now, however strange that sounded. Yes, he hated the place and yes, Kreacher was intolerable – but at least he'd be certain of things there. Being free to move around as he wished was one thing, but waking up in a place he didn't recognise was another thing altogether. He was currently out of his element, and that concerned him.
Sirius flattened that train of thought before it could proceed any further. He was thinking about way too many troubling issues recently. To distract himself, Sirius set about canceling his wards placed around his campsite, as well as shrinking his tent and supplies to fit in his pocket. Lastly, Sirius removed all evidence of the campfire. He nodded to himself in satisfaction when all was in order. Glancing back up at the canopy, Sirius attempted to gauge compass points for future reference before he remembered himself and paused. He conjured a compass for himself and opted to go by accurate readings instead, wanting to avoid any mishaps with direction in the near future.
To hopefully lengthen the daylight hours available to him, Sirius decided that heading west would probably be the best option at the moment. He could always change directions later. Sirius gathered his meager belongings and headed out, occasionally looking back down at the compass in his hand as he went.
…...
It was a few hours later that Sirius found himself in another clearing. Ahead of him, the calm waters of the river bank seemed inviting after two days of walking. Despite this, he decided against plunging into the river, reasoning that something dangerous might live within the unknown depths. Sirius didn't hesitate to collect water, though; he found no fault in taking advantage of what was readily available. Sirius conjured three buckets of water and, after filling them, closed lids over them. He muttered a quick shrinking spell to store them in one of his pockets, for later use.
Glancing up at the sky, Sirius noted that it had probably reached the early hours of afternoon. A few large, white clouds drifted past, shadowing the sun for a moment. Sirius closed his eyes. He knew he had a choice: there was the South bank, where he was certain that he'd spotted a small cave a ways down – stream; the North bank was clear, but there was less to determine about it as it continued around a bend in the river, obscuring his view.
After deciding on the former, Sirius picked up his pace, hoping to reach the cave as soon as possible, so he could avoid any mishaps later on. As he trudged along, Sirius began to feel a bit edgy; the plants he passed on his way to the cave were massive – at least twice his height. It made him wonder just what kind of plant would grow so fast, and in such large numbers. He could have sworn that several were swaying, but there was not even a hint of a breeze to support that theory, so he abandoned the thought, accrediting it to his magical upbringing, and wild imagination – which happened whenever he was uneasy. Sirius passed one which looked suspiciously humanoid in shape, and another – he could have sworn it was staring at him! But, plants don't have eyes here, do they?
Sirius' musings were stopped short when he heard rustling sound off from behind. He pivoted to face it and was surprised by what was there. It appeared to be one of the large plants he'd seen growing on this side of the river. It was silt brown with green undertones, and seemed to be comprised of seaweed. Looking closer, Sirius realised that it really had been staring at him earlier, as there was a hint of curiosity in its beady, yellow eyes. It reminded him of those monsters that he'd heard muggles rave on about – the ones that lived in the swamp. Something about a film? Was that the right word-?
The creature lurched closer, its long arms swinging limply at its sides. A loud gurgle erupted from its throat, arms stretching out towards him. In an astonishing feat of speed ad strength, it swiped at Sirius, intending to knock him over. Sirius ducked and dodged the attacks, mind racing, figuring that he had to escape, and fast. The creature was closing the gap between them, and he didn't have much time left.
Maybe I could avoid it in the river, he thought to himself. But would I be fast enough?
Sirius doubted that it would be wise, noting that the creature's appearance suggested that it would most likely be at home in the water. He decided that it would be best to get himself out of harm's way as soon as possible, not wanting to risk dueling the creature when he wasn't sure of its vulnerabilities and resistances to any spells he might cast. Thinking back to the river bank on the east side, Sirius spun on his heel, apparating out of the creature's reach with a loud crack! After the tight squeeze through the darkness, Sirius sighed in relief when he found himself back where he had started, at the east bank.
With a shake of his head, Sirius opted that the North side should be an easier route, seeing as there was no obstacle that he could discern up ahead. He hoped that he wouldn't have to face one of those strange things again.
…...
A/N That's it for now! It won't be too much longer before Sirius finds himself in company of other people, but I won't tell you exactly when. I'll try to post part four soon.
Peace out,
Shadowcaster01
