[a/n: Welcome, and welcome back, to Dark Star Rising! Hope you all enjoy this next chapter.]
Disclaimer: I do not own anything that J.K. Rowling owns. She is the mastermind behind Harry Potter and I am not. However, I do own the few new characters and that will come up later, and my plot. Please ask if you want to borrow anything from this story.
Chapter 2: Dreams
Darkness. Then the flickering orange embers he knew so well. Each lighting and fading in a matter of seconds. They were always the precursor. Yet something was wrong, the embers were more abundant than usual and interspersed among them preciously few emerald cinders glimmered ominously. The void swirled in innumerable shades of black banishing gravity and disrupting orientation. It was a place outside of time, containing the past, present, and future. He never knew how long he stayed there, motionless but for blinking as streams of orange light penetrated his eyes.
Light. So strong and pure it shimmered with every imaginable colour. It flashed across his vision and there was no turning back.
Gravity tugged at his feet slamming his body hard into the ground. Wearily he sat up and struggled to focus on his surroundings; tried to restrain the pain emanating from his leg. He was in the midst of a shadowy graveyard. Weeds and moss crept over the tombstones seeking to choke the last hint of life out of them. A large yew tree partially blocked the view of a small church to the right. Faint atop a hill to the left stood a fine old house. Cedric Diggory lay beside him.
"Where are we?" said Harry rhetorically. Cedric shook his head and helped Harry to his feet. They both drew their wands squinting tensely through the shadows. "Someone's coming."
A short hooded figure pressed toward them; it carried a bundle in its arms. Harry winced as pain shot through his scar. Falling to his knees in breathless agony he lost grip on his wand.
"No," he whispered, "No… Stop him…" He struggled to rise but another wave of pain seared through him.
"Kill the spare."
"Avada Kedavra!!"
As green light blazed around him, Harry lifted his head in time to see Cedric, eyes widened in shock, pitched backward by the force of the curse. Before he hit the ground his already cold dead eyes met Harry's'.
"Why?" mouthed Cedric.
"Expelliarmus!"
"Avada Kedarva!"
Red and green light melted into gold as the duelers rose into the air. This time they did not drift down again, but rose higher. Less than twenty feet away from the young boy the Dark Lord gripped his shaking wand tighter, conquering its spasms in seconds. Harry's only quivered more fiercely.
"You will never be strong enough Potter! Not while I still live." The Death Eaters cheered wildly below. "You are just like your parents; your father's hair, Lily's eyes… and both their weaknesses."
"My mother died to save me," hissed Harry, tightening his grip, "I have her love and protection running through my blood." The Dark Lord laughed quietly as if told a joke.
"As do I now, thanks to you. Imagine how disappointed she would be knowing how you gave it to me."
"I did not—"
"I would hardly say you made an effort to stop me Potter. Not a single cowardly charm or incantation. One would almost think you didn't care…" He trailed off in thought, "What a pity it will be for them to watch me kill you. Slowly."
The tremors of the young wizard's wand reverberated from fingertip to shoulder as his confidence succumbed to mortal fear. He could not let it end like this; there had to be a way out. In seeming answer to his helplessness the Dark Lord wrenched his thin wand away from the connection of shimmering thread with force enough to send Harry wheeling back.
His vision swam murkily out of focus as the ground rushed eagerly to meet his gravity stricken body. A woman's shriek pieced through his deaf ears accompanying impact with the unyielding earth. He sensed the intrusion of stones into his flesh and the agony that overcame his body with intensity never dreamt of. But as terrifying as it seemed the scream of the ghostly woman carried relief to him. He recognized it from a past long ago; it was for him.
"Harry…… Harry……"
"Harry! Wake up mate! C'mon, get up." Harry awoke with a start gasping for breath and clawing at the sheets that were now strewn about him and the floor. Ron Weasley stood above his friend continuing to urge him out of bed.
"We're going to be late Harry." Ron pleaded, "We've got Professor Snape first class today; Gryffindor's already lost 30 points this week!"
"Ron… Voldemort, he… the screams… falling…" stuttered Harry wearily.
"Must have been some dream, 'cause you sure were restless last night. But we can talk later; you've got to get up!"
"Just… a dream…" With a sigh Harry fell back onto the bed. Ron grabbed a nearby pillow and raised it over his head preparing to knock some sense into the stubborn boy. Unluckily for Ron, the pillow stayed where it was in mid-air as he lowered it towards Harry's head. He spun around in bafflement and received a solid whomp as the pillow hit him solidly in the face. Harry put down his wand and grinned.
"Alright, let's get going Ron, I'm famished," he said pulling on his school clothes.
"I'm sorry to hear that mate," responded Ron. Noting Harry's quizzical expression he explained, "You've missed breakfast."
Harry laughed, "Oh, is that all? No need to be sorry." Harry pulled out a handful of chocolate frogs from his trunk and tossed one at Ron, "I'm always prepared."
He wished it were true.
End of Chapter 2
[a/n: So ends the not so pointless, pointless chapter. I hope everyone is enjoying this humble beginning. You all have my word that the third chapter will be more substantial.
A huge thank you goes out to the following people:
Snow-Dawg, Nari Dragon-girl, hyparly4suger, edgy wedgy, shaolon29730, The Lady Reaper of the Shadows, spirit, and cough Aranel.
Your reviews are appreciated sooo much! turns to those who have not reviewed It only takes a second to let an author know what your thoughts are on their writing. So please, if you read, review.]