NOTE: Once again, none of J.K.'s original characters belong to me, duh. But Orion belongs to me...and her parents. They are mine (tm). Muwahaha. Enjoy!
CHAPTER ONE
VISIONS OF PAST AND FUTURE
"Orion, be a dear and check on the bread." Orion Avery swept gracefully to her mother's oven. The kitchen was warm and inviting. The smell of pumpkin bread filled her nostrils as light streamed through the oval window that occupied the space above the kitchen sink. Orion opened the oven door to gaze at the loaf.
"Almost ready, mother," she said with a loving smile.
"Wonderful. Do ye mind goin' to get yer father from the livin' room?"
"Of course not," the girl replied as she kissed her mother on the forehead and exited the kitchen. The house was just as comforting and inviting as it had always been. The drapes were pulled back from every window to let the evening sun shine in to light the otherwise dark halls of her family's home. Orion floated to the living room where her father sat as he always had. His spectacles were barely helping him read his paper, as they were slipping off his dominant and proud nose. His eyes hardly looked as though they were open. He seemed tired and old.
"Dad? Mum says that dinner is ready." There was a cough and a mumble as Mr. Gerald Avery cleared his throat and looked up at his daughter. He set his paper down and rearranged his glasses. Then he stood up and held Orion's face in his hands.
"You grow more beautiful every time I look at you," he complimented. Orion blushed.
"Oh Dad--" He kissed her on both cheeks and then headed off to the kitchen. His daughter hung back and started pacing around the room, remembering. The mantle was lined with pictures of her and her parents, along with almost every available space on the walls. The people in the picture in the center of the mantle waved and smiled at her as she picked it up to examine it more closely. How she longed to be that young girl in the photograph--so innocent, so fragile, so carefree--
A terrifying scream pierced the woman's ears. The framed picture fell from her hands and shattered into a million pieces. She turned to run to her dying mother, but her legs refused to move. She could hear more screams and her father--once so proud and strong--begging for his life. Another voice came to her--a shrill and horrifying sound. It was a voice that struck terror into the hearts of everyone whom it approaches-a voice she thought she destroyed.
Her legs finally broke free of their frozen position and she fled to the kitchen. A blinding green light flashed before her eyes and her parents fell to the floor. Orion screamed, but not a sound escaped her lips. A figure clothed in black stood above her deceased parents, and, sensing her presence, turned on her. The woman tried to scream once more, but this time she found that in place of her mouth, there was nothing but the same skin that covered the rest of her body. The figure that stood before her now was not human. In fact, it was nothing but a black cloak and a face. But not a face familiar to any creature. Where its eyes should have resided there were deep, dark tunnels. Its skin, or what should have been skin, was pulled so far back onto the rest of the head that the dark blue veins that traveled beneath it could be seen with terrifying accuracy. There was no evidence of a nose, or even ears. But it was the mouth that made the creature not a creature at all. The hole that occupied the bottom half of the head hung open like a door that needed desperately to be shut. There were no lips, or teeth. Not even a tongue, or at least nothing of that could be seen. It was mesmerizing and horrible at the same time. It didn't even move as the voice spoke to Orion.
"Now it is your turn." The figure raised its hand and another flash of vibrant green light shot out from the wand it was holding.
Professor Avery shot up from her bed. Sweat and tears poured down her face. Her breathing came at irregular intervals, and blood escaped her bottom lip where she had bit down so hard during her nightmare. Orion sat uncomfortably under her covers, looking around her bedroom at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The drapes were drawn, letting the moonlight cast its eerie glow into her room. One window stood ever so slightly open, allowing the cool night's breeze to ruffle the curtains and send a chill down the woman's spine. She climbed out of her safe bed and strode over to the window. The stars were hidden from her view that night, as the storm clouds rolled in. After shutting the pane she proceeded to pace around the room, stopping at her fireplace mantle. There stood the same picture that was in her dreams--or rather, nightmares. The same terrifying images that came to her almost every night now. Her head throbbed, as did her chest; where a small scar intruded upon her breast, just above her heart, which so wished for the happy days that shined in the little girl's face. Cursing her own foolish wishes, Orion strode out of the room, determined to get a good night's rest-even if it meant breaking into the infirmary for some miracle sleeping potion.
***
It was July at Hogwarts, and therefore the only ones staying at the school were the Headmaster Albus Dumbledore, the Caretaker Argus Filch, and Dumbledore's Goddaughter, Orion Avery. Hagrid, the school's keeper of keys and grounds and Care of Magical Creatures professor, was sent on another one of Dumbledore's secret missions. The castle seemed much larger when there were so few people occupying it. It was menacing and almost frightening when walking around during the night, despite the safety it provided from the creatures outside its walls. The people in the pictures rested peacefully, and the staircases ceased their movements, as there were no students to confuse. Thunder could be heard in the distance, the air felt heavy and moist, and as the woman looked through a window at the forest, the backs of the leaves could be seen--a sure sign of a coming storm.
Orion wandered the halls of the sixth floor, longing for someone to talk to about her dreams. Dumbledore would have sufficed, if only he were not so concerned. She hoped Hagrid would return soon, he was an exceptionally good listener, and wouldn't press her about getting more help. The woman aimlessly headed toward what she thought was the infirmary, but instead found that when she regained a conscious for where she was, had stumbled into the dungeons. Like a magnet, she was pulled to a door that stood half hidden from the normal wandering eye. To the prying eye, however, it stuck out like a sore thumb. Orion had seen this side of the door but twice before, and a large lump formed in her throat as she registered it as Severus Snape's chamber door.
Orion turned to leave, but a voice inside her head caught her attention. "Come on, old girl, why not have a look around? For Merlin's sake, you've already been in his bed!" Knowing full well that she would live to regret it, Orion pushed open the heavy oak door.