A/N: Read and review. I'm wondering if I can turn this fic into a horror thingy, so bear with the cliffhanger at the end.
Disclaimer: Harry, Ron, Hermione, Sirius, Remus, Voldemort, and Dumbledore belong to JK Rowling. Hogwarts and its grounds belong to JK Rowling. Liz is mine. The plot is mine.
It was quiet. Harry stared at his muffin, his appetite not too good lately. Lord Voldemort was after him, and even if everyone was doing his or her best to hide and protect him, he knew somehow he would have to face Voldemort again.
"Diagon Alley. Blasted apart," Remus sighed, breaking the silence, looking over the Daily Prophet he was holding in his hand.
Sirius grunted. "Voldemort, I suppose?"
Ron flinched. Remus blinked a few times, before checking the article again.
"Apparently, no."
Harry's eyes widened. Sirius looked up from the pumpkin juice he was stirring absent-mindedly with his finger.
"Voldemort doesn't have that much power," Remus said slowly, his eyes quickly skimming through the article.
"But…Pettigrew blasted apart a street with a single curse before…" Harry's eyes narrowed.
"That was a Muggle street," Hermione quickly put in. "Diagon Alley is protected with enchantments and charms and…and…"
"We get it, Hermione," Ron said, disgruntled. A hollow laugh escaped Sirius's throat.
"Then…who did it?" Harry asked, staring at the front-page picture of Diagon Alley in ruins.
"Not sure. The Ministry's certain though that whoever who did it, is working for Voldemort. So, in a way, Voldemort's responsible. But imagine…this much power…" Remus whistled softly.
"I'm sure the person's not a regular wizard," Hermione said, confidently.
"Right…" Ron said, sarcastically, picking up his toast and taking a huge bite out of it.
Remus looked up at Ron. "She's right, you know. The shopping alley wasn't blasted apart using Dark Magic. The Ministry wizards would have known then," he said quietly while Hermione beamed.
"Torant," Sirius said, expressionlessly.
Harry and Ron stared at Sirius.
"Person with loads of power. Very, very rare. Can do magic without wands," Sirius continued, monotonously, sounding like he was reading from a textbook.
"They produce energy, for instance fire, or lightning, using only their concentration. The energy is emitted from various parts of their bodies, usually the eyes and palms," Hermione said, a fixed smile on her face.
"What did you do? Swallow a whole textbook?!" Ron said, disbelievingly.
Harry inhaled sharply, his muffin lay forgotten on his plate.
"So, this Torant person…is more powerful than Voldemort and his Dark Magic?" Harry's voice cracked a little.
Sirius snorted. "Can blast Voldemort to hell in a second."
"What I'd like to see is what happens when Voldemort teaches a few tricks to him or her," Remus said grimly.
An awkward silence swept over them.
"I'm toast," Harry said, his voice trembling ever so slightly. Ron stared at his piece of toast and let it drop onto his plate. Pity and worry was written all over Hermione's face. Sirius was still staring blankly at his pumpkin juice. Remus ran a hand through his greying hair. Silence.
"Well, I think I'd be going now. Got to see Dumbledore," Remus muttered before going off.
Ron and Hermione rose too, saying something about going to the common room, not looking to see if Harry was following them. Sirius didn't even look up.
"Sirius…" Harry began, his voice barely above a whisper, but Sirius cut him off.
"Liz." He looked up. Harry swallowed whatever he was going to say. There were tears in Sirius's eyes.
"Liz is a Torant, Harry," he said bitterly, his face ten times paler than usual.
"But…but…" Harry stuttered. "She wouldn't…she's dead…"
Sirius pursed his lips tightly and clenched his knuckles until they turned white. Harry sighed and let his head drop into his hands. He sneaked a peek at Sirius.
Sirius was staring ahead, his face expressionless, but a tear escaped from the corner of his eye.
"Sirius thinks it's Liz…" Harry said lazily. He, Ron and Hermione were sitting at the bank of the lake, under a willow tree.
"But…she's…dead," Hermione turned to look at Harry.
"I know," Harry said, closing his eyes for a moment, before snapping them open, "But Torants are supposed to be really rare."
"So you think she's alive and she's joined the Dark Side?" Hermione said while shaking her head.
"You're probably just jealous that you aren't a Torant," Ron smirked.
Hermione glared at Ron. "That's rubbish!"
Ron rolled his eyes, before reverting his attention to Harry, who was picking at a dried leaf on the ground.
"Ugh!" Harry groaned as the wind blew the leaf away. "I don't know what to do!"
"Nothing," Hermione said simply. "Sirius just misses his girlfriend…that's all!"
"What if it's true?" Ron narrowed his eyes at Hermione. "Sirius wouldn't lie about a thing like that!"
"You don't understand," Hermione sighed. "Liz might have been a Torant, I don't know, but the point is, she's dead, Ron."
"Sirius is right. You've got no proof that she's not alive and at Voldemort's side!" Ron said determinedly.
"Look, we have to respect Sirius's choices. He wouldn't pick a double-faced, betraying woman as his girlfriend!" Hermione said, equally as firm.
"That was thirteen…fourteen years ago! People change!" Ron was now shooting daggers at Hermione.
"If Liz really loved Sirius, she wouldn't join the Dark Side!" Hermione said, a faint smile playing about her lips, just like all the other girls when they talked about love.
Harry watched all this, his stomach turning, his mind refusing to accept the fact that a friend of his parents was after him. Yet, he trusted Sirius, and he knew deep down that Sirius was right.
"Maybe she was forced to!" Ron said desperately.
"No one can force a Torant to do what he or she doesn't want to do! They're so powerful!" Hermione was half-shouting by now. There was silence for a while.
"Then, why didn't she just kill Voldemort?" Harry said, his throat dry.
"Murder is serious business, Harry," Hermione said pompously.
"But that's stupid! Voldemort was killing so many innocent people, and she was worried that she would go to Azkaban?" Harry punched the ground.
"She was young! She could have been apprehensive about killing people, or maybe she wasn't trained yet…or…" Hermione stopped when she saw the look on Harry's face.
"Anyway, she probably killed herself after she heard that Sirius was captured," Hermione said, sighing dramatically.
"That's just like one of those Muggle stories…Rome and Julia?" Ron sneered.
"Romeo and Juliet," Harry muttered to himself.
"It never happens in real life. Stop dreaming, Hermione," Ron continued.
Hermione glared at Ron, her face red. She got up quickly, and angrily brushed away all the leaves on her robes.
"You just don't want to admit that you're wrong," Ron added, satisfied. That was the last straw. Hermione slapped Ron in the face, and ran off towards the castle.
Ron turned to Harry who was watching him.
"Whatever," he muttered while clutching his reddening cheek. He rose and strode away, pointedly not following the path Hermione had taken.
For the second time that day, Harry was abandoned by his friends.
Harry sat there for a while before getting up, groaning loudly. He adjusted his glasses and started toward the castle. It was dark by now. The sun had set a few minutes ago.
Harry couldn't see well in the dark. He kept stumbling over loose pebbles and tripping over roots. He was so busy picking his way through the long grass and rocks that he didn't notice where he was going until it was too late.
He suddenly realised that it was so much darker. He looked up and reality hit him in the face. He was in the heart of the Dark Forest. Above him, in the trees, there was an odd chirping sound that no bird made. But this was different. He was in the Dark Forest. Not too far away, he heard a wolf howling.
The bushes behind him suddenly began shaking. He turned around and stared at them. His heart was pounding and blood was rushing through his ears. He licked his dry lips and his hands were trembling.
He began backing away. Then, suddenly, a creature leapt out and pounced on top of him.
HaHHHHHHarryhhHHH
