Chapter 14: Rain
Sirius screamed out as he felt the Death Eater's magic penetrate his clothes and skin. He had tried at the last moment to turn away from the curse, but this time he was too slow. The fire from the Death Eater's wand exploded through Sirius' body. It did not burn like regular fire; instead it had cut him like knives. The right side of his body had taken the majority of the hit and the force of the curse had sent him sprawling. Even now, although the sparks had diminished, he could still feel the curse working under his robes, cutting into his arm, chest, and side.
A few moments later Sirius realized that he was still lying on his back, having made no effort to move. Instead he let the rain pound his face, hoping it would alleviate his pain. He then became conscious of the fact that he didn't know where his adversary was. The rain had taken on monsoon force and every time Sirius opened his mouth to breath, the rain threatened to choke him. Because of the rain, Sirius couldn't see three feet in front of him. He tried to reposition himself to get a better view, but movement sent waves of pain and nausea through him, and Sirius sagged back into the wet ground.
************************
Ron and Hermione ran towards the scream that they had heard, abandoning their original trail. If other screams had been made, the now constant thunder, and the falling of the rain had drowned them. The rain was so think that they could barely see each other, let alone their way through the woods. Hermione slipped on a wet rock that would have resulted in a nasty fall, but Ron's hand came out of nowhere, grabbed her, and pulled her to her feet.
They ran until they were forced to stop and catch their breaths. They stood under a tall oak tree, whose leaves and many branches caught much of the rain. Hermione sat on a large root and rubbed her legs, which were beginning to ache from all the running, and tried to push as much of her wet hair out of her face as possible. "I guess we should move on now."
Ron was standing in front of her peering into the rain. He didn't respond.
Hermione cleared her throat, "I said..."
"Hermione come look at this." Ron said ignoring her statements.
Hermione picked herself off the root with great effort and went and stood by Ron. He didn't take his eyes off what he was looking at and Hermione followed his gaze. She saw a figure lying on the ground, only a short distance away from them. They were so close that Hermione could make out the identity of the person, "It's Sirius." she said.
Ron nodded, "It looks like he's hurt."
"Then let's go help him."
Ron put out his arm and held Hermione back, "Wait. There's someone else."
Hermione squinted into the distorted gray landscape and tried to see what Ron saw. "Ron, I don't see anything." She said, frustrated with herself.
"I lost him too." Ron admitted, "He was standing right...there!" Ron shouted and pointed vigorously. "He's standing right behind Sirius." Ron squinted then added, "He's doing something with his hands, he's...he's...got a wand."
Hermione finally located the other man and when she recognized what he was a shiver ran down her neck and branched out throughout her entire body, "Ron, that's a Death Eater."
"I know." Ron said, "and Sirius doesn't see him."
**************
Sirius felt the rain on his face and closed his eyes against it. The rain relaxed him, it always had, the soft drumming of the rain against his clothes and face brought a certain element of peace with it. That's all the rain was now, a bringer of comfort and peace. No longer was it another adversary working against him, hindering his vision and movements. Sirius found himself caring less and less about where the Death Eater was and found himself concentrating on the sound of the rain.
Sirius' hand was throbbing, his whole body was throbbing, and he could feel drops of something he knew was not rain, flowing down from his chest and side, only to finally merge with the rain and mud on the ground. He didn't care anymore. He was content to lie on the rain soaked earth and let the water wash over him, washing away his blood, sins, and failures, a dark baptism.
He was on the brink of unconsciousness when the Death Eater approached him from behind. Only when the Death Eater was so close that he was actually standing on Sirius' hair, did the fallen wizard turn his gaze upward and into the dark hood. Sirius could see only lines of a dark face and was able to make out the lines of a mouth that angled upwards in a cruel smile. Sirius attention shifted from the hood and to the wand that the Death Eater was pointing at the center of Sirius' forehead.
"Now that I have you bleeding and broken, I can kill you." The voice rasped from under the hood.
For some reason, unknown to even to him, Sirius started laughing. The laugh was cold and hard, bereft of any humor. Although it hurt like hell to laugh, Sirius couldn't stop himself. The laughter grew louder and louder, causing the Death Eater above him to back off.
"Why are you laughing?" The Death Eater demanded.
Sirius said nothing.
"Stop it!" The Death Eater yelled, and in response Sirius only laughed louder.
"I said stop it now!" The dark man screamed and kicked Sirius in the side. Waves of bright pain surged through Sirius as he gasped for breath.
He looked up to see the tip of the Death Eater's wand once more aimed at him and heard the words of the Avada Kedavra curse being uttered. In the mud and rain Sirius waited for the curse to strike him, but it never came.
Before the Death Eater could finish the curse, a mass of shadow ran into him and knocked the Death Eater into the ground. A second smaller shadow managed to loosen the wand from the Death Eater's hand while the first shadow held him on the ground. Sirius watched as the Death Eater smacked the figure that was on top of him and lunged for the wand held by...Sirius squinted...a girl. The other a figure, a boy, threw himself at the Death Eater again and managed to bring him down once more. The girl muttered something and the trees around the Death Eater began to move and the branches began to wrap themselves around the Death Eater.
"Ron, move!" The girl shouted and Sirius watched as the boy got out of the way before becoming encased in the branches along with the Death Eater.
Sirius groaned feeling all of his injuries anew, and the girl's attention went to him. She ran to him and for the first time he saw her face clearly. He recognized her as one of Harry's friends, Hermione. The boy appeared and Sirius realized that it was Ron Weasley.
"How is he?" Sirius heard Ron ask.
"I don't know." Hermione replied.
Sirius wanted to tell them he was fine, but at the same time he knew he wasn't. Suddenly the images of Ron and Hermione began to blur and fade. At first he thought that it was all part of a dream and that he was actually in his bed within his cave, but then he realized that he was slipping into unconsciousness, and he welcomed it.
*****************
Harry had no idea how long he had sat in the darkness holding his unconscious aunt. The only measurement of time that he had was to count the number of water drops he heard in the distance. Although the task was menial and boring counting kept him from delving into self pity. Every time that he stopped counting his thoughts immediately went back to his confinement and the inevitable encounter with Voldemort.
Around the five hundredth drop or so he felt Selene stir. He had begun to feel her skin warm up a while ago and hoped that it had meant that she would awaken soon. Harry was glad that he had been right. He felt her move and slowly rise, "Harry?" she asked.
"Yeah. It's me."
"Are you alright?"
"Peachy." Harry replied sarcastically.
"Do you know where we are?"
"No idea. I was still unconscious when they brought us here." Harry said and heard the soft rustling of his robes as she sat up beside him, her shoulder touching his.
"Thank you Harry." She said.
"For what?"
"Your robes. They help more than you know. But are you warm enough?"
"I'm fine." Harry said. Although in reality everything about this situation made Harry feel anything but fine, the coolness of the room and the goose bumps it caused on his arms, didn't bother him much. "I only wish I could see something." He added.
Selene sighed. "I think I can do something about that." Harry heard the robes rustle some more and then watched as a small ball of light radiated from beside him. At first Harry squinted, his pupils painfully shrinking at the new light, but eventually they adjusted and Harry saw the outline of Selene's hand, which, he noticed, was supporting the ball of light. The light grew and Harry was able to see more of Selene, her arm, face, and the rest of her body. Her eyes were fixed and concentrating on the glowing orb in her hand. The light then spread to Harry and illuminated the right side of his body and then the left. The wave of light filled in the corners of the room and for the first time Harry was able to make out its dimensions.
It was indeed a room, rectangular in nature and about ten feet across and twenty long. The ceiling was high; in fact the small light that Selene produced was not powerful enough to pierce the darkness above them. Harry identified the source of the dripping; a leak in the roof perhaps was dripping water into a puddle in one of the corners. "It must be raining outside." Harry thought to himself.
His attention was soon diverted to what lay on the far side of the room, a door. Harry ran over towards it and grabbed the handle pulling on it with all his strength and when that failed he pushed against it. He had little care for what was on the other side of the door. All he wanted was to get out of the room he was in. Selene's light flickered and faded, and Harry could hear her breathing heavily from the far side of the room.
"I'm sorry Harry." She said between gasps. "I'm afraid I can do little more than that in my present state."
Harry slid down against the door and sat with his back against it. "Selene, could you do something about the door?" he asked quietly.
"I'm afraid not. The trip here and the cold did a good deal of damage to my ability to control the magic. I probably could break down the door, but it would render me useless against whatever was on the other side. I would not be able to protect you or myself."
"You magic has been damaged?" Harry asked.
"No, you misunderstand me. The magic is fine; it is my control that has been damaged. And without that, there's no telling what harm it, or I, could do. I can do nothing."
"You sound like you are giving up." Harry said angrily.
Harry heard her laugh from somewhere in the darkness. "I suppose it does."
"I don't believe that." Harry said.
"Harry, I wouldn't expect you to..."
"To what? Understand?" Harry retorted. He stood up and spoke in the direction of Selene although he could no longer see her, "To understand what it is like to have people around you die, or to become afraid for you...or of you? To look over your back constantly waiting for someone in the dark to come and find you and take you away again?"
"Harry..."
"I do understand what it is like to live in a constant fog of fear, helplessness, and worry!" Harry yelled into the darkness. Suddenly his anger left him and he was left feeling sad and tired, so very tired. He sat down once more and his next words were soft and barely audible, "Please don't give up, Selene. I can't fight this battle alone."
The two sat silently in the dark, lost in their own separate thoughts and listening to the drip...drip...drip...of the rain.
**********
A/N: A little angsty perhaps, but oh well. As for Sirius, I wouldn't worry too much about him...ten bucks says he'll pull through. -R
Sirius screamed out as he felt the Death Eater's magic penetrate his clothes and skin. He had tried at the last moment to turn away from the curse, but this time he was too slow. The fire from the Death Eater's wand exploded through Sirius' body. It did not burn like regular fire; instead it had cut him like knives. The right side of his body had taken the majority of the hit and the force of the curse had sent him sprawling. Even now, although the sparks had diminished, he could still feel the curse working under his robes, cutting into his arm, chest, and side.
A few moments later Sirius realized that he was still lying on his back, having made no effort to move. Instead he let the rain pound his face, hoping it would alleviate his pain. He then became conscious of the fact that he didn't know where his adversary was. The rain had taken on monsoon force and every time Sirius opened his mouth to breath, the rain threatened to choke him. Because of the rain, Sirius couldn't see three feet in front of him. He tried to reposition himself to get a better view, but movement sent waves of pain and nausea through him, and Sirius sagged back into the wet ground.
************************
Ron and Hermione ran towards the scream that they had heard, abandoning their original trail. If other screams had been made, the now constant thunder, and the falling of the rain had drowned them. The rain was so think that they could barely see each other, let alone their way through the woods. Hermione slipped on a wet rock that would have resulted in a nasty fall, but Ron's hand came out of nowhere, grabbed her, and pulled her to her feet.
They ran until they were forced to stop and catch their breaths. They stood under a tall oak tree, whose leaves and many branches caught much of the rain. Hermione sat on a large root and rubbed her legs, which were beginning to ache from all the running, and tried to push as much of her wet hair out of her face as possible. "I guess we should move on now."
Ron was standing in front of her peering into the rain. He didn't respond.
Hermione cleared her throat, "I said..."
"Hermione come look at this." Ron said ignoring her statements.
Hermione picked herself off the root with great effort and went and stood by Ron. He didn't take his eyes off what he was looking at and Hermione followed his gaze. She saw a figure lying on the ground, only a short distance away from them. They were so close that Hermione could make out the identity of the person, "It's Sirius." she said.
Ron nodded, "It looks like he's hurt."
"Then let's go help him."
Ron put out his arm and held Hermione back, "Wait. There's someone else."
Hermione squinted into the distorted gray landscape and tried to see what Ron saw. "Ron, I don't see anything." She said, frustrated with herself.
"I lost him too." Ron admitted, "He was standing right...there!" Ron shouted and pointed vigorously. "He's standing right behind Sirius." Ron squinted then added, "He's doing something with his hands, he's...he's...got a wand."
Hermione finally located the other man and when she recognized what he was a shiver ran down her neck and branched out throughout her entire body, "Ron, that's a Death Eater."
"I know." Ron said, "and Sirius doesn't see him."
**************
Sirius felt the rain on his face and closed his eyes against it. The rain relaxed him, it always had, the soft drumming of the rain against his clothes and face brought a certain element of peace with it. That's all the rain was now, a bringer of comfort and peace. No longer was it another adversary working against him, hindering his vision and movements. Sirius found himself caring less and less about where the Death Eater was and found himself concentrating on the sound of the rain.
Sirius' hand was throbbing, his whole body was throbbing, and he could feel drops of something he knew was not rain, flowing down from his chest and side, only to finally merge with the rain and mud on the ground. He didn't care anymore. He was content to lie on the rain soaked earth and let the water wash over him, washing away his blood, sins, and failures, a dark baptism.
He was on the brink of unconsciousness when the Death Eater approached him from behind. Only when the Death Eater was so close that he was actually standing on Sirius' hair, did the fallen wizard turn his gaze upward and into the dark hood. Sirius could see only lines of a dark face and was able to make out the lines of a mouth that angled upwards in a cruel smile. Sirius attention shifted from the hood and to the wand that the Death Eater was pointing at the center of Sirius' forehead.
"Now that I have you bleeding and broken, I can kill you." The voice rasped from under the hood.
For some reason, unknown to even to him, Sirius started laughing. The laugh was cold and hard, bereft of any humor. Although it hurt like hell to laugh, Sirius couldn't stop himself. The laughter grew louder and louder, causing the Death Eater above him to back off.
"Why are you laughing?" The Death Eater demanded.
Sirius said nothing.
"Stop it!" The Death Eater yelled, and in response Sirius only laughed louder.
"I said stop it now!" The dark man screamed and kicked Sirius in the side. Waves of bright pain surged through Sirius as he gasped for breath.
He looked up to see the tip of the Death Eater's wand once more aimed at him and heard the words of the Avada Kedavra curse being uttered. In the mud and rain Sirius waited for the curse to strike him, but it never came.
Before the Death Eater could finish the curse, a mass of shadow ran into him and knocked the Death Eater into the ground. A second smaller shadow managed to loosen the wand from the Death Eater's hand while the first shadow held him on the ground. Sirius watched as the Death Eater smacked the figure that was on top of him and lunged for the wand held by...Sirius squinted...a girl. The other a figure, a boy, threw himself at the Death Eater again and managed to bring him down once more. The girl muttered something and the trees around the Death Eater began to move and the branches began to wrap themselves around the Death Eater.
"Ron, move!" The girl shouted and Sirius watched as the boy got out of the way before becoming encased in the branches along with the Death Eater.
Sirius groaned feeling all of his injuries anew, and the girl's attention went to him. She ran to him and for the first time he saw her face clearly. He recognized her as one of Harry's friends, Hermione. The boy appeared and Sirius realized that it was Ron Weasley.
"How is he?" Sirius heard Ron ask.
"I don't know." Hermione replied.
Sirius wanted to tell them he was fine, but at the same time he knew he wasn't. Suddenly the images of Ron and Hermione began to blur and fade. At first he thought that it was all part of a dream and that he was actually in his bed within his cave, but then he realized that he was slipping into unconsciousness, and he welcomed it.
*****************
Harry had no idea how long he had sat in the darkness holding his unconscious aunt. The only measurement of time that he had was to count the number of water drops he heard in the distance. Although the task was menial and boring counting kept him from delving into self pity. Every time that he stopped counting his thoughts immediately went back to his confinement and the inevitable encounter with Voldemort.
Around the five hundredth drop or so he felt Selene stir. He had begun to feel her skin warm up a while ago and hoped that it had meant that she would awaken soon. Harry was glad that he had been right. He felt her move and slowly rise, "Harry?" she asked.
"Yeah. It's me."
"Are you alright?"
"Peachy." Harry replied sarcastically.
"Do you know where we are?"
"No idea. I was still unconscious when they brought us here." Harry said and heard the soft rustling of his robes as she sat up beside him, her shoulder touching his.
"Thank you Harry." She said.
"For what?"
"Your robes. They help more than you know. But are you warm enough?"
"I'm fine." Harry said. Although in reality everything about this situation made Harry feel anything but fine, the coolness of the room and the goose bumps it caused on his arms, didn't bother him much. "I only wish I could see something." He added.
Selene sighed. "I think I can do something about that." Harry heard the robes rustle some more and then watched as a small ball of light radiated from beside him. At first Harry squinted, his pupils painfully shrinking at the new light, but eventually they adjusted and Harry saw the outline of Selene's hand, which, he noticed, was supporting the ball of light. The light grew and Harry was able to see more of Selene, her arm, face, and the rest of her body. Her eyes were fixed and concentrating on the glowing orb in her hand. The light then spread to Harry and illuminated the right side of his body and then the left. The wave of light filled in the corners of the room and for the first time Harry was able to make out its dimensions.
It was indeed a room, rectangular in nature and about ten feet across and twenty long. The ceiling was high; in fact the small light that Selene produced was not powerful enough to pierce the darkness above them. Harry identified the source of the dripping; a leak in the roof perhaps was dripping water into a puddle in one of the corners. "It must be raining outside." Harry thought to himself.
His attention was soon diverted to what lay on the far side of the room, a door. Harry ran over towards it and grabbed the handle pulling on it with all his strength and when that failed he pushed against it. He had little care for what was on the other side of the door. All he wanted was to get out of the room he was in. Selene's light flickered and faded, and Harry could hear her breathing heavily from the far side of the room.
"I'm sorry Harry." She said between gasps. "I'm afraid I can do little more than that in my present state."
Harry slid down against the door and sat with his back against it. "Selene, could you do something about the door?" he asked quietly.
"I'm afraid not. The trip here and the cold did a good deal of damage to my ability to control the magic. I probably could break down the door, but it would render me useless against whatever was on the other side. I would not be able to protect you or myself."
"You magic has been damaged?" Harry asked.
"No, you misunderstand me. The magic is fine; it is my control that has been damaged. And without that, there's no telling what harm it, or I, could do. I can do nothing."
"You sound like you are giving up." Harry said angrily.
Harry heard her laugh from somewhere in the darkness. "I suppose it does."
"I don't believe that." Harry said.
"Harry, I wouldn't expect you to..."
"To what? Understand?" Harry retorted. He stood up and spoke in the direction of Selene although he could no longer see her, "To understand what it is like to have people around you die, or to become afraid for you...or of you? To look over your back constantly waiting for someone in the dark to come and find you and take you away again?"
"Harry..."
"I do understand what it is like to live in a constant fog of fear, helplessness, and worry!" Harry yelled into the darkness. Suddenly his anger left him and he was left feeling sad and tired, so very tired. He sat down once more and his next words were soft and barely audible, "Please don't give up, Selene. I can't fight this battle alone."
The two sat silently in the dark, lost in their own separate thoughts and listening to the drip...drip...drip...of the rain.
**********
A/N: A little angsty perhaps, but oh well. As for Sirius, I wouldn't worry too much about him...ten bucks says he'll pull through. -R