AUTHORS NOTE:
So the every two or three days thing is a pretty rough guestimate....:) Mostly because my wonderful beta Darkness Approaches and i need time to confer over the blasted things....Expect the next chapter sometime between now and Tuesday, yeah?
Title: The Covenant
Genre: Romance/Adventure
Warnings: None, so far. Violence, maybe? 0.o THIS WILL BE SLASH! But nothing explicit :) Oh, and definitely NOT HP/LV mkay?
Rating: PG 13 (just to be safe)
Pairings: HP/?? SB/RL
Summary: In a land where the use of a wand is forbidden and Lord Voldemort rules all an orphan somehow garners the Lord's attention....and not in a good way.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, and yes I have unceremoniously...borrowed a few ideas from Sherwood Smith's Crown/Court Duel. I will not simply rewrite that story with Harry in it, so no fear!
By dusk the horses are plodding at a walk with foam sticking to their tack and necks. We walk beside the poor beasts, stumbling with exhaustion, leading them by the reigns.
The dimming like plays tricks with my eyes. The grey ambiance of the forest causes branches to loom out like dark specters to snatch me off the path. I become more and more nervous as we walk, so when a squirrel bursts from a bush to dash in front of us I yell and skitter to the side.
Luckily my horse is too exhausted to spook, but my exclamation does serve to wake Sirius from a light doze.
He squints at my frightened face and sighs. "You've never been out of town after dark, have you?"
I shake my head. "I've never been out of the town's walls at all."
My pride protests admitting this, but I ignore his pitying glance as we move off the path.
"Are we going to eat soon?"
He has the grace to look shameful. "I'm sorry, Harry! Yes, I have some supplies in the saddle bags we can break into for dinner." He grins wryly. "Nothing fancy, though!"
We walk carefully through the brush, talking quietly. "Not many travel this road at night," he comments. "But all the same I'm afraid that we cannot light a fire."
I nod in acceptance, but he seems too distracted to notice so I make a sound of assent.
We hobble the horses in a patch of grass near a stream and huddle under a thick bush with some dried meat and soft flaky bread from the packs. I'm glad for the soft spongy moss underneath us, and say so.
His broad smile lights up the darkness. "You will be hurting for days from riding, you know."
I can only groan in response, and soon nod off next to him.
I wake to wetness on my ears and nose and rub at each irritably. Rain falls heavily on our bush, but still Sirius sits awake above me. I look up, trying to figure out why he's awake. "Wha…?"
He glances at me, then continues to gaze out at the wet darkness. "Go to sleep, Harry. I'll watch over you."
I snuggle closet to his crossed legs and settle with a sigh as he covers my damp self with his cloak.
"I'm here, Harry. We'll be moving in a few hours."
Without my permission my eyes drift shut as Sirius murmurs again.
"Go to sleep, Harry."
When I wake again it is still raining and Sirius is still awake. Without a word we crawl out from under the bush into the sticky drizzle of rain.
Sirius drapes his cloak over my shoulders.
"Use it like a tent on your horse."
We drag the tack out from under the bushes we stashed them under and saddle the fidgety horses. This I know how to do.
When my gelding tries to shy away I lay a hand on his shuddering flank and murmur to him quietly.
"It's all right, boy. You're good boy. I'll learn to ride eventually, with your help, won't I?" I rub him, soothing his temperament, as I check all of my gear. "All right, Sirius."
This time he gives me a boost up, but I still wince when my legs spread over the horse's broad back.
He grins at my discomfort and flits to his horse. "How're the muscles?"
"Screaming," I grit out.
I receive no reply.
Despite the rain we flee (for that's what we're doing) at a brisk pace.
Through the rain a sickly grey light reflects on the dripping trees. "Is it dawn, yet?"
Sirius shakes his dripping mane and I huddle deeper under his cloak in sympathy.
"Almost. Although I doubt we'll have a real sunrise with this weather."
We trot through the gloom and only pass by one lonely sheep herder all day. We pass the dreary day in silence and stop early for the night.
As we hunker down under another bush for the night Sirius speaks.
"We are near the end of this forest. We will be too exposed in the farm lands to cross during the day. If we push hard we should reach the next forest grove by morning."
I nod wearily and fall asleep immediately to the pitter patter sound of rain.
When I wake I end up peeling gross leaves off of my cheek.
"Time to go, Harry," Sirius whispers huskily.
We lead the horses back to the trail and trot bouncily out of the forest. We skirt around farmsteads and barns nervously avoiding all of the lit homes. The waxing moon hits us better than it did in the forest, so it's fast going.
Sirius seems to doze in his saddle so I keep in mind the directions he murmured to me before he helped me mount.
"See the moon, Harry?" We both turn to the right. "It's only now rising in the East. We need to ride to the Northeast to reach the forest that lies on the edge of the Duchy of Crabbe and Goyle. Watch the moon. As we go we will go from heading at an angle towards the moon, to the exact opposite as it sets. Always pay attention to the moon, Harry."
I am disappointed by the continuance of the dreary weather. As a direct result I can see the moon, but not the stars. The town I lived in my whole life, Merchant's Town, was large enough that the sky was too well lit at night to see the stars.
I've never seen a star before.
My horse's trot starts to drag so I slow both of the horses to a walk. As I lead us on dirt roads around the fields, trees on the far side come into sight.
When they are not so far off I hiss to my companion. "Sirius!"
He sits up with a jolt and looks to me.
"Hist!"(1) I jerk my head towards the trees.
He looks forward at the looming forest and then back to me with a grin. "Bravo, Harry! You've led us true!"
We gallop for the trees where the darkness is oppressive but the rain is thin. We slow to a jangling fast walk as large drops of rain patter down on our heads.
"There's a small path ahead," he whispers loudly. "It runs around the edge of the Duke's land and comes out of the trees near the Black River at the foot of the Hills."
The name of the home of the mystical creatures I had heard the street urchins whisper about makes me shiver in excitement.
"We're going to the Hills?" I whisper back eagerly.
"Damn right!" He flicks his reigns to steer us to the left. "That's where your family home is, boy."
A couple hours before dawn we settle down to sleep again.
"The farther north we get the less likely we'll be to meet anyone." We huddle under the damp cloak together, munching on damp biscuits and dried eat. "The main road through the Duke's land is to our East, through the center of the Duchy. Only bandits roam these parts."
He grins cruelly. "Very poor bandits, in both senses of the word."
Mid-morning we rise and move again. I note a difference between this forest and the last, and comment.
"Why are these trees different, Sirius?"
We plod along the misty trail whilst he thinks.
"You really are a city boy, eh?"
I blush and duck my head, embarrassed.
"Don't be ashamed, Harry." He smiles deprecatingly. "When I first went to Hogwarts, I couldn't understand why their trees were different either. The farther up the hills you get and the colder it gets, the fewer of the trees you recognize you will see." The horses puff along for a few minutes while we ride in silence.
"Tell me about your trees, Harry."
"They have leaves," I note. "They turn red and gold during the fall. During the winter the trees are bare."
"Swell job, Harry!"
I imagine that if we had been walking side by side he would have slapped me on the back.
"Now tell me what's different about these trees here."
I observe the trees as we briskly pass them and try to ignore my grumbling stomach.
"Well, there are trees like my trees, too." He nods encouragingly. "But these are…shiny. And…thorny!"
"Those are needles."
"Really?"
"Yup. Don't ask me to remember what your trees are called." He waves a hand flippantly. "But I do know what these are called: Evergreens."
"Evergreens?"
"Because they don't drop their leaves during the winter."
"Wow!"
"There are some bushes and shrubs that have leaves, like your trees, that are thicker and shiny. They are called evergreens as well because they don't drop their leaves either.
I mull this over for a moment. "But what about roses? They drop their leaves."
He throws his head back and chuckles. "A regular scholar!"
I blush and turn away.
"Don't worry, Harry. You'll be able to learn till your heart's content in Godric's Hollow, promise."
I wonder at his phrasing for a moment. Didn't he say that my mother had a wonderful library at the Castle? The Castle is above Godric's Hollow, isn't it?
We stop after mid-day for our first lunch out of the saddle and spoil ourselves.
"While you were asleep the other night I nicked these from a farm."
He hands me a cold lump of bread, but to my surprise it is stuffed with cheese and meat.
"Wow!" I exclaim around my mouthful. I'm afraid, from his smile, that it comes out more like "Mwao", though.
A stream trickles merrily nearby and the sound of our horses ripping up grass on the bank is comforting.
As we sit enjoying the meager sunshine (thanks to a cloud break) the first jangling of tack we've heard, besides our own, for days pounds closer.
The single horse comes to a halt on the path nearby and we stiffen warily.
"You there!" A voice calls out. "What are you doing on the Duke's land?"
1. Is an exclamation. It's like saying "Over there!"
....So I know there are lots of readers, and even a few alerts/favorites...Am I going to get any feedback? I'd even welcome someone barging in and tearing my story apart at this point :) I want to know what you guys think and whether I'm being lame, or predictable, or cool or what?!
Monte
EDIT: Changed the village below Potter castle to Godric's Hollow. Hogsmeade is at the Capitol with Hogwarts *beats head*