This one is very, very short, but the next one will be much longer. The next one will also be in html format with italics and proper spellings and things like that. I mainly wrote this one to include Sirius's short letter, and to foreshadow a little bit. Thanks for listening to my rambling, now you can read the story.
Chapter Fourteen
Sirius's Warning
It came for Harry in his sleep, swift and silent in its approach. He had not seen the creature until it stood several feet away, a black, tall form crouched nearby. It carried something...something Harry could not quite make out. As it began to slowly stalk forward, its movements were silent; not even a soft breeze came from the sweeping black robes as they billowed out around the figure. Small, red eyes stared out of the creature's cowl with a bit of excitement concealed beneath them. Harry's own emerald gaze met the crimson one, and Harry could not move; he stood tranfixed, staring into the creature's blood-red eyes. It crept nearer, ever closer....
And Harry's eyes snapped open, glancing around. Everything was blurry and glazed over as he glanced around. Out of instinct, he reached out and snatched his glasses off of his night stand and roughly shoved them on his face. Everything came into sharp focus. He was still safely under the covers in his four-poster.
His pajamas were moist with sweat, as was his black hair, and his blankets and comfortor. Harry glanced hurriedly around, examining the four-poster as though he'd never before seen it. An instant later, he snapped the curtains open just enough for his hand to fit through a small hole and peer out. Everything appeared normal from the outside...as long as there was actually someone within the confines of each of the five four-posters, everything was, indeed, perfectly fine, and he had been dreaming.
Of course, that had indeed been what had happened. He had fallen asleep and dreamt about the stories Hagrid had told him of, and of the night of the ball, when he'd seen the Urdai...
It was nearly four thirty A.M., and the sun hadn't yet crested near the eastern sky. Harry got up slowly, wondering why he was doing so. It was only four thirty. Way too early even for breakfast. Classes didn't start for some odd three or four hours, so he should've gone back to bed and gotten some rest.
And yet he could not. He stretched as he stood between his and Ron's bed, hearing a few brittle joints pop and snap. Checking to make sure his wand was in his pajama pocket, he headed on down the stairs and towards the common room.
The fire was still crackling and flaring brightly in the common room, lighting the whole of the room. Harry walked slowly over to the sofa in front of the fire and sat down, propping his elbows on his knees and his head on his hands. He stared at the fire carefully, watching sparks shoot around every few minutes, thinking hard about all he'd seen so far.
First there had been the attack on the cabin, if one could call it an attack to begin with. All that really had happened was that Harry had seen something, or thought he'd seen something, gotten spooked and ran. The cabin just happened to blow up seconds later, purely out of coincidence most likely.
"Stop kidding yourself, Harry," said Harry softly to himself. It had not been coincidence. Not at all. Nothing was anymore. There had been the creature, but Harry had not been able to see it...it had been within the shadows of the trees....
Why had it told Harry to run, though? It just didn't make sense. If it had wanted Harry dead, it would not have told him to run. Or would it have? Harry's eyes snapped shut in frustration as he clawed his hair. Maybe it had been a trap? No, they'd gotten away, hadn't they? Or were they all in fact dead right now? Yeah, that's thinking logical, all right, Harry snapped at himself. Harry lifted his head again, only to let it fall back down between his forearms once more.
Harry's head snapped up once more as he heard soft footfall from behind him. He turned his head slowly to see Ginny's slender form standing a few feet away at the stairway to the dorms, her red hair glistening in the fire as it had the night of the ball. The night of the ball...
Harry was now wide awake, but half-smiled at Ginny as she approached him. She sat down on next to him, and stared at the fire.
"D'you still want to know what I was looking at during the ball?" Harry asked softly, breaking the silence. Ginny turned slowly to him, brows furrowed.
"What d'you mean?" she asked in a whisper.
Now Harry frowned, meeting her gaze.
"The Halloween ball?" he said, voice growing quieter. "During it you found me looking out the window at something, and asked me what I had been looking at.... Didn't you?"
Ginny shook her head slowly.
"I was at the ball, Harry," she whispered, "so how could I have asked you?" Her voice carried no sign of annoyance or irritation.
Harry's eyes shut softly, and he thought back. That HAD been Ginny, hadn't it? Was he hallucinating now?
"You were at the ball?" he asked, staring intently at her brown eyes.
She nodded. "Yes."
"Then who was here during the ball? You don't have a twin, do you?" Harry asked, offering a smile.
Ginny returned it quietly. "No. I don't have a twin. Fred and George are the only twins in our family."
Confusion flashed across Harry's weary face, and he leaned forward, so close he could feel her breath on his face.
"You're sure you were at the ball, that you didn't leave early and come here?" he whispered, breathing through his mouth heavily.
"Positive."
Harry held her gaze a moment more, then turned his eyes to the fire. Something had been in the grounds at Hogwarts, and was now back...in some form....
Harry shook his head, then slowly stood up, sighing softly.
"What's wrong?" whispered Ginny, frowning.
He hesitated. "Nothing," he said after a moment's consideration, his voice barely audible. "Nothing's wrong. I'm going back up to bed for a couple hour's rest. Night, Ginny."
After pausing for another moment, Harry smiled at her, then headed up for his dorm, wheels spinning in his head. First there had been two Dumbledores, and now two Ginnys? But what could clone other being's forms so that it looked like them?
As Harry later woke that morning for breakfast, he finally remembered Sirius's forgotten letter. He dug through his robe pockets until he finally found the folded, crinkled piece of parchment. He unfolded it and read it as he dug through his trunk for a set of clean robes.
Harry,
Hope you're doing all right. I'm doing fine, before you ask. I've been staying with Moony the past few weeks for precautious reasons. Everything's been blown out of porportion. Fudge still won't come around, but I think we'll convince him eventually. After the deaths, that is.
On another note, don't stray far from the grounds; I've heard of a new henchman of Voldemort - it's a creature called a Reaper. Stay close inside from now on. Don't reply to me until the last week of November for certain reasons. Happy Halloween.
Sirius
Harry folded up the letter and tucked it away into his trunk, mind racing. Now even Sirius was telling him to stay within the grounds, as he had last year. Could things really be that bad once more? Or were they, in fact, worse this time?
Chapter Fourteen
Sirius's Warning
It came for Harry in his sleep, swift and silent in its approach. He had not seen the creature until it stood several feet away, a black, tall form crouched nearby. It carried something...something Harry could not quite make out. As it began to slowly stalk forward, its movements were silent; not even a soft breeze came from the sweeping black robes as they billowed out around the figure. Small, red eyes stared out of the creature's cowl with a bit of excitement concealed beneath them. Harry's own emerald gaze met the crimson one, and Harry could not move; he stood tranfixed, staring into the creature's blood-red eyes. It crept nearer, ever closer....
And Harry's eyes snapped open, glancing around. Everything was blurry and glazed over as he glanced around. Out of instinct, he reached out and snatched his glasses off of his night stand and roughly shoved them on his face. Everything came into sharp focus. He was still safely under the covers in his four-poster.
His pajamas were moist with sweat, as was his black hair, and his blankets and comfortor. Harry glanced hurriedly around, examining the four-poster as though he'd never before seen it. An instant later, he snapped the curtains open just enough for his hand to fit through a small hole and peer out. Everything appeared normal from the outside...as long as there was actually someone within the confines of each of the five four-posters, everything was, indeed, perfectly fine, and he had been dreaming.
Of course, that had indeed been what had happened. He had fallen asleep and dreamt about the stories Hagrid had told him of, and of the night of the ball, when he'd seen the Urdai...
It was nearly four thirty A.M., and the sun hadn't yet crested near the eastern sky. Harry got up slowly, wondering why he was doing so. It was only four thirty. Way too early even for breakfast. Classes didn't start for some odd three or four hours, so he should've gone back to bed and gotten some rest.
And yet he could not. He stretched as he stood between his and Ron's bed, hearing a few brittle joints pop and snap. Checking to make sure his wand was in his pajama pocket, he headed on down the stairs and towards the common room.
The fire was still crackling and flaring brightly in the common room, lighting the whole of the room. Harry walked slowly over to the sofa in front of the fire and sat down, propping his elbows on his knees and his head on his hands. He stared at the fire carefully, watching sparks shoot around every few minutes, thinking hard about all he'd seen so far.
First there had been the attack on the cabin, if one could call it an attack to begin with. All that really had happened was that Harry had seen something, or thought he'd seen something, gotten spooked and ran. The cabin just happened to blow up seconds later, purely out of coincidence most likely.
"Stop kidding yourself, Harry," said Harry softly to himself. It had not been coincidence. Not at all. Nothing was anymore. There had been the creature, but Harry had not been able to see it...it had been within the shadows of the trees....
Why had it told Harry to run, though? It just didn't make sense. If it had wanted Harry dead, it would not have told him to run. Or would it have? Harry's eyes snapped shut in frustration as he clawed his hair. Maybe it had been a trap? No, they'd gotten away, hadn't they? Or were they all in fact dead right now? Yeah, that's thinking logical, all right, Harry snapped at himself. Harry lifted his head again, only to let it fall back down between his forearms once more.
Harry's head snapped up once more as he heard soft footfall from behind him. He turned his head slowly to see Ginny's slender form standing a few feet away at the stairway to the dorms, her red hair glistening in the fire as it had the night of the ball. The night of the ball...
Harry was now wide awake, but half-smiled at Ginny as she approached him. She sat down on next to him, and stared at the fire.
"D'you still want to know what I was looking at during the ball?" Harry asked softly, breaking the silence. Ginny turned slowly to him, brows furrowed.
"What d'you mean?" she asked in a whisper.
Now Harry frowned, meeting her gaze.
"The Halloween ball?" he said, voice growing quieter. "During it you found me looking out the window at something, and asked me what I had been looking at.... Didn't you?"
Ginny shook her head slowly.
"I was at the ball, Harry," she whispered, "so how could I have asked you?" Her voice carried no sign of annoyance or irritation.
Harry's eyes shut softly, and he thought back. That HAD been Ginny, hadn't it? Was he hallucinating now?
"You were at the ball?" he asked, staring intently at her brown eyes.
She nodded. "Yes."
"Then who was here during the ball? You don't have a twin, do you?" Harry asked, offering a smile.
Ginny returned it quietly. "No. I don't have a twin. Fred and George are the only twins in our family."
Confusion flashed across Harry's weary face, and he leaned forward, so close he could feel her breath on his face.
"You're sure you were at the ball, that you didn't leave early and come here?" he whispered, breathing through his mouth heavily.
"Positive."
Harry held her gaze a moment more, then turned his eyes to the fire. Something had been in the grounds at Hogwarts, and was now back...in some form....
Harry shook his head, then slowly stood up, sighing softly.
"What's wrong?" whispered Ginny, frowning.
He hesitated. "Nothing," he said after a moment's consideration, his voice barely audible. "Nothing's wrong. I'm going back up to bed for a couple hour's rest. Night, Ginny."
After pausing for another moment, Harry smiled at her, then headed up for his dorm, wheels spinning in his head. First there had been two Dumbledores, and now two Ginnys? But what could clone other being's forms so that it looked like them?
As Harry later woke that morning for breakfast, he finally remembered Sirius's forgotten letter. He dug through his robe pockets until he finally found the folded, crinkled piece of parchment. He unfolded it and read it as he dug through his trunk for a set of clean robes.
Harry,
Hope you're doing all right. I'm doing fine, before you ask. I've been staying with Moony the past few weeks for precautious reasons. Everything's been blown out of porportion. Fudge still won't come around, but I think we'll convince him eventually. After the deaths, that is.
On another note, don't stray far from the grounds; I've heard of a new henchman of Voldemort - it's a creature called a Reaper. Stay close inside from now on. Don't reply to me until the last week of November for certain reasons. Happy Halloween.
Sirius
Harry folded up the letter and tucked it away into his trunk, mind racing. Now even Sirius was telling him to stay within the grounds, as he had last year. Could things really be that bad once more? Or were they, in fact, worse this time?