Hi! Like I promised, here's the 11th chapter! I really hope you'll like! Usagi will be naughty like her dad and disobey orders by going into the forbidden forest! But she'll be able to make a story up so they won't punish her, of course!
A BIG thank you to you guys who reviewed! I love you a bunch!
SilverChild01 Firelightz Crazygurl70 Koosei Angel Lady Light Jewel Silverdrake Dark Emerald
Miranda Compton Silverpaws the silver Nukachu Maiden Genisis Anon MarsMoonStar Chibi ami
Baby Daydreamer Wiley Queen Diamond Ancient-Legend Harry and Usagi FOREVER Bob
Yadrianne: Hey! She has many personalities since the scouts gave her some of their powers. But she'll always be cheerful somewhere inside, she just doesn't know what to do right now.
SachiNyoko: I never heard of this 'Monster Encyclopedia', maybe I'll go take a look. Thanks for the pointer! By the way, I love your stories! I hope you'll update them soon! *They better be Usa/Harry! ^_~*
Chibi Koneko: I don't know if I'll make her cure Lupin. And I don't know about her being an animagus. I'll make a poll.
Glitter-Flutterby: Jeez! You travel a lot! Lucky you!
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Father Mine
Chapter 11: Bane
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"Hime-sama! They're…here…Watch out for them! The demons are hungry for energy!" Usagi woke up with a gasp, a light sheen of sweat covering her body. She went to the bathroom in a hurry, seeing that Hermione had fidgeted in her sleep, and locked the door behind her. 'What a nightmare!'
She splashed some cold water on her face and looked at herself in the mirror. She was so pale that she looked sick. Her eyes weren't their usual Copenhagen blue, instead a dark, almost blackish blue. She went in the shower, contemplating on how she hadn't got much sleep last night, heck, any other nights! One could only take on so much.
A couple of weeks had passed and they were nearing Halloween. She had increased her nightly patrols tenfold and with the oncoming holiday, she was sure she wouldn't get one bit of shut-eye at night. There wasn't a day when the journal didn't talk about some dark followers being captured or killed. She growled and punched the wall in front of her.
'But none of them were Pettigrew! He's good at hiding. I'll grant him that!' She was writing daily to her father and he didn't sound better himself. He was loosing patience and she actually had to refrain herself from teleporting to him once to give him a piece of her mind. But he was also encouraging her in his letters, so that's why she was able to hold on for so long.
She got out of the shower and wrapped a towel around her naked body, letting her hair fall behind. A knock on the door made her come out of her reverie and she hurriedly put on her clothes. "What took you so long, Serena? You didn't have to lock the door, you know!" A very steamed Hermione said, hands on her hips.
"Sorry Hermione, it's a habit." She apologized, and thought at the same time; 'Habit my ass! I just don't want everyone to see my scars!' And that's how her day began. 'And what a lousy day it'll be, after a night like this one…' The blue eyed girl sulked.
*~*
"Hey Serena! Wait up!" Ron called after Usagi, at the end of Transfiguration class.
"What is it, Ron?" Usagi asked, head cocked on the side.
"Well, have you noticed some changes in Harry's behavior? It's been a couple of weeks now, Hermione and me wanted to give him some time but he's not doing better. He says he's ok but everyone can see he doesn't get much sleep. He's almost always alone and aloof! It's driving me nuts!" The blue eyed girl raised her eyebrows at the enraged red head.
"And you're asking ME if he's ok because?..." Ron blushed a little. "Well, you and Harry always seemed on friendlier terms, to put it nicely." Usagi sighed. "I'm sorry but I don't know. Who knows what's going on in that head of his." She shrugged and left Ron alone. No doubt Hermione wasn't far behind anyway.
"Sit down everybody! I said sit, Mr. Longbottom, not laugh with your friends!" Came the sharp voice of Severus Snape. Passing the desk of the rabbit, he addressed her. His voice had lost his usual bite; "I don't have any potions to work on today, so I would like you to do the project with the rest of the class." Usagi nodded and he went to his own desk.
He pointed at the formula written on the blackboard. "You'll be doing a past recovery potion today. If you do it well, it will show you a forgotten memory buried in your past, as a child. Get to it!"
With much persuasion from Usagi, Snape had VERY reluctantly accepted, with a ferocious glare, to pair Harry with Ron during potions. 'You'll have to clean the class if it explodes, Miss Tsukino, and with those 2 it will surely blow up often' was the only, although wry, reply of the potions teacher.
So Usagi started her potion, paired with Hermione. The bushy haired girl didn't find anything to comment from her methods of work so she made her potion in silence. A few minor explosions later, surprisingly NOT coming from Harry and Ron's cauldron, the potions were ready to be tested.
"Mr. Malfoy, why don't you start?" With a smug look, the blond haired boy took a sip from his mixture. He closed his eyes, as if he was sensing the potion take its effects. A mist appeared and the image took a form. It was showing a young Draco, barely 4 or 5 years old, mounting a broom for the first time. Then, the image dissipated.
Snape looked proudly at the Slytherin boy. "10 points for a perfectly brewed potion, Mr. Malfoy!" Pansy all but hugged him with admiration. "Did you really begin to use a broom at 5 years old, Draco?" Ron looked at Harry and made a choked, gagging sound. Seamus and Dean snickered loudly but Harry barely showed the hint of a smile, and it disappeared as soon as it came.
Snape asked many students to test it, and some memories were more ridiculous or embarrassing then others. Like Pansy's, who's potion had revealed the first time she had wet the bed. The girl was trying to melt into the floor, Usagi thought. Harry's turn was inevitable. "Mr. Potter! Your turn!" Snape called out sharply.
Usagi frowned at his demeanor but said nothing. She only hoped they weren't going to see Voldie casting the death curse on Harry. The green eyed boy reluctantly took a sip of his potion, and everybody waited with dread what was going to happen. Usagi sighed with relief when her fears were proven wrong.
But it was even tougher for Harry to see his parent still alive, holding and embracing him proudly, aged no more than a few months old. Harry clenched his teeth together and fisted something in his pocket. The rabbit frowned. 'He's been having the habit of doing that for weeks now! I wonder what he clenches in his hands like that every time something perturbs him….' Usagi thought, concerned.
True, Harry would always put his hand in his pocket and hold something when he was troubled, and he never let anyone near him enough for Usagi to see what the hell it was. When the image dissipated, Harry sunk in his chair, a hand on his scar, the other in his robe pocket. He winced in pain a little but nobody really noticed. The students were too awed after seeing Harry's parents alive, and Snape was too busy glaring at where the image used to be to look down at him.
He grunted and didn't give him any points, even if he had succeeded in brewing his potion. Seeing James Potter again made Snape's insides boil with rage and Usagi all but jumped in her seat when Snape called her to test her potion. 'Shit!' She cursed to herself. She couldn't get out of this one! The potion could show anything from her past! Hermione, not sensing why on Earth she would be scared to test her potion, gently urged her to take a sip. "Come on, Serena! I've seen you brew it, it's perfect. You shouldn't be afraid of trying it!"
Usagi meekly accepted the spoonful of potion. She drank it, and she immediately started to feel its effects. The spoon she held fell on the floor with a small clatter. She forcefully closed her eyes and put her hands on her ears. "SHIT!" She cursed loudly this time, and Snape began to eye her worriedly and call her name, but she didn't hear any of it.
Instead, she was concentrating on where the potion was going. Which memory it was going to reveal. She was trying to control its trajectory, but her concentration wasn't strong enough and the potion gripped a tightly sealed memory. She yelped loudly in pain when the Plutonium seal broke away under the pressure and Snape took a step back.
A dark and hazy mist circled over Usagi's head, until a mark appeared suddenly, only to disappear as quickly as it came. Snape was taken aback. 'What was that?' He asked himself. The other students looked curiously at each other. It sure had been a strange symbol! Some kind of P merged with an L, maroon in color. (The Pluto planet sign)
Then, the mist cleared in the middle but the edges remained blurred, as if there were interferences. The memory showed a beautiful blond haired woman in labor in what could only be described as a muggle hospital. Once the doctor had the baby in his arms, it was too late. The mother's eyes had closed definitively, but with a smiling face, as if her mission was completed. Death at childbirth.
From the edges, a person, clearly a man, came out of the shadow a little and the doctor gave him the baby.
"Must be the father." Hermione deducted out loud.
The man, still in the dark and blurry section of the image, cradled the baby close to his heart. Then, from out of nowhere, some sort of black hole appeared and out came another blurry person, clearly female. The person started to speak, although nothing could be heard, but the students had an idea of what she was saying, since her hands were extended towards the father.
The man shook his head furiously and protected the baby from her view, and took something out from his pocket; a stick like object, and Hermione murmured; "A wand."
The female shook her head and made something appear in her hands that looked like a key shaped staff. They weren't so sure, then again. The man started to yell a silent spell but the woman was too quick for him. She raised her staff and a bright light appeared-
"NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! STOP IT! NO MORE!"
The image flew away furiously when Usagi yelled. She felt the potion trying to go back to the memory with the full intention of finishing it. The mist reappeared again and the images were about to be seen when Usagi concentrated hard on Pluto's powers.
The bright light was clearing and the man was thrown on the wall behind, further in the shadows. The baby wasn't in his arms. The students were on the edges of their seats, intent on finding what had happened to the baby when the misty image retracted on itself and an angry mark, the same as before, appeared and engulfed the rest of the images. It lingered a moment before scattering away.
Usagi was hunched over and breathing loudly. 'So that's what you did, Setsuna? That's what you did to get me out of this world?' Her mind was whirling with thoughts.
Hermione gasped sadly. "You were…you were kidnapped as a baby? Oh god, Serena!" She was about to cry when Pansy opened her big mouth. "Why did it stop there?! Make the end appear! I wanna know what happened!" That was the wrong thing to say.
Usagi's head snapped up and she glared icily at the nosy girl. Her hands gripped the desk and it cracked under the pressure. She could feel Saturn's power boil inside of her. "Don't try to put your nose in my business, Parkinson." Pansy's insides were completely frozen in fear at the dark and dangerous tone of voice the usually happy rabbit took. Serena didn't wait for any commentary as she got up, stuffed her things in her bag forcefully and exited the class before it even ended.
*~*
"Of all the things to say! That nosy, dim-witted, brainless fool of a girl!" Usagi closed the outside doors of the castle violently and breathed in the fresh autumn air. She was tense all over and really needed to vent some frustration on something, or someone. But she wasn't going to destroy anything, she convinced herself, and instead decided to tire her excess of energy by running. She had time to spare anyway.
She began to run at full speed and her legs automatically directed her towards the forbidden forest. She stopped in front of an old tree at the commencement of the eerie woodland and sat on the ground, panting. She leaned on the tree trunk and put her head on her knees. "I'm so tired of this." Came her muffled voice, and she sighed. However, a rustle of leaves coming from behind her made her stiffen and she slowly turned around.
As soon as it came, a white blur disappeared. She got up and, ignoring Dumbledore's warning at the welcoming feast, she entered the dark forest. She kept walking blindly, ignoring where her feet were guiding her, pushing branches away at times.
She felt many eyes on her but ignored them, and stopped when she reached a dimly lit clearing. There was a small brook and she sat on a rock, near the stream of water. She was lost in her thoughts when something nudged her by behind. She blinked and went to turn when a horse-like head and then body stepped beside her, nudging her hands curiously.
She raised an eyebrow at it and petted its head. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be with your own kind?" Like she expected an answer from it! She rolled her eyes at herself and continued to pet it. It gave out a little strident whine and let itself be stroked. Its bat-like wings were closed on themselves at its side and its snake-like eyes gleamed in the light.
The dark, horse-like creature then went to drink some water. "There must be more Thestrals around if you're here." She spoke to it again and the horse came back to her, nudging her arm. She chuckled a little at its demand. "I'm sorry, I can't give you any of my blood. It's not good for you." She could almost picture the horse pouting and laughed softly. She heard the rustling of leaves in front of her but didn't raise her head.
"You have much courage to enter this forest, child! Or much foolishness! It is a miracle you're still alive at this point!" Hoof beats sounded imposingly on the ground and only then did she acknowledge the owner of the firm voice in front of her.
"And what is your name, sir centaur?" The Thestral stood by her side and ignored the new being in the scenery.
The centaur frowned deeply. "This is none of your concern, human! Go back to your side, out of the forest or I shall be forced to harm you! Humans will no longer be tolerated by us!" Was the stiff and angry reply she got.
The Thestral nudged her on the arm and she glanced at it, momentarily forgetting the very angry creature in front of her, until it stomped its hoofs on the ground. "Do not ignore me, human!" It almost yelled.
Usagi merely turned to him and said, softly; "So, your name is Bane, is it? Mine's Serenity, but you can call me Serena." To say Bane was shocked was an understatement.
"How do you know my name, human?" It asked suspiciously, eyes narrowing. Usagi smiled and motioned at the Thestral. "It did. And I'm sorry if I intruded in your business. I know very well how frustrating it is. I'll go back to my side if you so desire."
Bane stopped her by gripping her arm gently. "You mean to tell me that you understand the Thestrals? Who are you, human child?"
Usagi smiled mysteriously. "I neither am human, nor a child, sir centaur. That is all I can say." Bane eyed her with, not distrust, but curiosity and started to turn around to go back to the darkest parts of the forest. He called out softly, before disappearing; "If you can get out of here alive and come back here someday, I would love to talk to you again and learn about you. You have grown in my esteem, neither human, nor child. Come back, and I shall call you friend, Miss Serena. Until then." Bane disappeared in the dark branches.
Usagi looked at the spot were the sun could be seen and put her head in her hand. "Damn! I've been here for too long! Potions class must be over by now, and the next one will begin soon! I can't afford to be late! Not with Professor Lupin!" She looked at her sides anxiously until the Thestral placed itself in front of her and turned its head to nudge its back.
That was all the invitation she needed and mounted the dark beast. She stroke its mane and the horse-like creature almost purred with contentment, before starting to trot. It knew its way out by heart but she had to get out of the forest before anyone sees her. She urged the creature to go faster and directed it a little further than Hagrid's hut, so she would avoid be seen coming out.
*~*
"Is everybody here? Stay close, everyone!" Lupin called out to the mob of excited students. When they had arrived to DADA class, there had been a note on the door. It asked the students to go outside near Hagrid's hut. They all put 2 and 2 together and it was clear that they would see the dragons today.
Ron lifted his hands slowly and Lupin looked at him. "What is it, Mr. Weasley?" Ron fidgeted and made sure of something, before answering; "Well, Serena's missi-"
A girl shrieked loudly and they diverted their attention to her. However, she was pointing at something before her. "What is THAT?! A monster?!" They followed her gaze and several other students gasped. Hermione was shocked, to say the least, as much as Hagrid, who had joined them for this class. "Is that Serena, on the Thestral?!"
Seamus turned to her. "What's a Thestral?" Hagrid swiftly turned his head to the boy and asked; "You don't know what a Thestral is? Then how come you can see it?!" Harry raised his eyebrow. Everyone could clearly the beast? But how? Surely, not all of them had seen someone die?" He winced a little and rubbed his forehead.
When Usagi spotted the class outside, she grunted. "Damn! I'm in for it!" She directed it towards the class and stopped several meters in front of them. The ones who had never seen the animal backed away in fright. Hagrid was about to say something when she dismounted the dark creature, who promptly disappeared form their line of view. "Hey! Where did it go?" Asked Dean nervously.
"You mean you don't see it anymore?" Asked Hermione. Dean and others shook their head negatively.
"What's going on?" They all stared at the blue eyed girl. Hagrid frowned. "Have ya been in the forbidden forest, missy?" Usagi shook her head. "No, the Thestral came out on its on and permitted me to go on its back for a ride, that's all."
Hagrid sighed in relief. "Ya should be careful, missy. Not many habitants of the forest like humans meddling with their affairs, especially the centaurs." Usagi raised an eyebrow at him. "Oh? Trouble with the centaurs? I don't have problems with them, Bane was impatient but rather nice afterwards."
Hagrid gaped and bellowed; "Did you say Bane? As in, centaur BANE?! You saw him?" Usagi blinked. "Yeah. What about him? He came out of the forest when he saw I was mounting a dark creature but we became friends after a talk. He even invited me to come to see him, if I wanted."
"What about him? WHAT ABOUT HIM?! Did you know that Bane despise humans and everything that's remotely linked to them?! Did you know he was the one who banished Firenze out of the Forbidden Forest? And…HE INVITED YOU TO GO THERE?!"
Usagi unblocked her hands from her ears when the half-giant finished. "I didn't know about Firenze, but yes, he did invite me. So what?" She shrugged when Hagrid started to sputter in shock. "And how come the Thestral became visible to all when you were touching it?" Usagi shrugged to Hagrid once again. "Guess I've seen too many deaths in my life, I don't know. Traumatizing life, you know. Just forget about it."
Hermione was about to say something but a rasping of throat cut her off. "Am I interrupting something?" Charlie Weasley glanced at the group from the sides. "'Cause we're ready to show you the dragons now."
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A little cliffy! YAY! (Although you must be glaring at me full force right now) ^_^;;; Sorry!
Here's a little poll:
1st- Do you guys want her to cure Lupin of his lycanthropy?
2dn-Do you want her to be an animagus, if yes, what animal?
That's about it! I want to see plenty of reviews! Next chapter will have plenty of action!!!!
REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Love ya all
Eternal Cosmos ^_~