Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Harry potter characters, settings, curses, or anything else that appears in the books or the movie.
Author's Note: Alright! This week is the beginning of December which means Christmas and Christmas vacation! :D :D :D ahhhh….. can't wait til all this school stress evaporates… unless they pile on projects!! I won't forgive them!!! Lol anyhoo, it was pretty windy and a bit snowy this morning which put me in the mood to write angst, so here I am! :D read and review!
¤ whenever I have italics in these: sorts of bars, they are still referring to the present.
Chapter 4: The Lunafucus
Harry slunk stealthily down the hill. Large clouds had rolled in since evening and were heavy with water. Even with the moon hidden behind the clouds, Harry could still feel it's enchanting power penetrating his mind and body, evoking his bestial predatory characteristics. Large flakes of snow fell from the sky, covering Hogsmeade with a thin blanket of white. Harry could now see the carolers walking door to door singing their Christmas carols.
Silent night, holy night…
The majestic scene before him somewhat resembled a serene village in a snow globe. However, if Harry was to have it his way, it would soon resemble a village of carnage…
The four teenagers plunged into the depths of the forest. Blindly, they raced right into the middle of a group of Dementors. None of them even realized it until the feeling of dread and cold slowed them down. The Dementors swooped upon them, the putrid rotting flesh that was their hands protruding from their billowing robes. Some of them reached to pull their hoods down, exposing their rotting faces, and empty eye sockets. Dimly, Harry could hear the dying screams of his mother.
"Expecto patronum!" A thin silver mist escaped from Ginny's wand. The thin barrier between themselves and a soulless life helped to clear their minds long enough for them to summon their happiest thoughts.
"Expecto patronum," they all yelled. Patroni of different shapes and sizes- a large stag, a silver-tipped falcon, a white leopard, and a Great Horned owl- burst forth from their wands, charging down the Dementors in the woods.
With their way paved clear, the four moved on, this time more carefully. Several times, they stopped to try to apparate, but all attempts failed.
"They probably spelled the entire forest to make it a non-apparition zone," Hermione remarked. "They must have been planning this capture since their last attack on Hogwarts."
By now, the trees had begun to thin, so the four moved eagerly, but cautiously to the area. Could this be their beloved Hogwarts?
'It's too soon,' Harry told himself, but a false hope rose in him. Harry and the others began to hallucinate. The clearing in the forest was really the Hogwarts grounds. Hagrid's wooden hut stood familiarly on the edge of the grounds, just a few metres away. The castle's twinkling lights greeted them. They ran across the grass, through the doors, into the Great Hall. They could already smell and taste the feast that was prepared for them by the loyal house-elves.
Instead, they were rudely awakened when they found themselves at the edge of a raging river, fed by a cascading waterfall. They didn't mind it too much, though, because it was such a beautiful scene that it caused them to just stand still for a minute to take it all in. They were awakened from this enchanting scene when they heard Ron groan.
"We were so close! I could almost see Hogwarts."
"Me too."
"Wait a minute! Were we all thinking the same thing?"
"Um…guys…I just noticed something. How come we can't hear the waterfall or the river?"
Harry bounded down from the hill. Staying in the shadows, he prowled the area. He finally settled himself at the end of the path, where he could be concealed by the dense thicket.
He patiently waited for people to appear. Most people had settled themselves indoors as it was Christmas Eve, but soon, people would take strolls to walk off their heavy dinners… then his own feast would begin.
Suddenly, it was as if their ears had popped and the four were almost knocked over by the sound of rushing water.
"What happened?" Ginny asked worriedly.
"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that too much, Weasley," said a smooth voice. They all drew their wands and wheeled around to come face to face with Macnair, Lucius and Draco Malfoy. "Temporary deafness was just a side effect of the spell we placed over you. Once your minds were completely cleansed of the spell, you could hear again," Draco drawled. "Nice dreams of Hogwarts?"
"Ah… false hope. It works as well as the Imperio curse if not better," Lucius added.
"What do you want from us?" Hermione demanded.
"Oh, we want nothing from a mudblood like you. We just want the rise of our lord, and that boy," Macnair said, pointing at Harry, "will help us on the way to victory, whether he wants to or not."
"Never! I'll never join the dark side!" Harry vehemently exclaimed.
"Whether you want to or not…"
crunch crunch
His ears pricked up. The sound of the crunching snow was nearing him. Peering out from underneath the bushes, he saw a small child, about the age of three, working his way up towards his hiding place. Harry began to salivate. Fresh, tender meat, juicy bones, and it would hardly put up a struggle. He slowly began to ease himself into a hunting position.
Lucius walked forwards, arm outstretched.
"Locomotor Mortis!" Ron shouted. Lucius stumbled. As he fell to the ground, his outstretched arm pulled something down.
"A torture table," Hermione breathed. "It was hidden beneath an invisibility cloak."
"Very observant, Granger. Expelliarmus!" Draco cried, pointed at the four. All their wands rose up and flew into Draco's hand. At the same time, the brawny Macnair picked up Hermione and Ginny in one arm and Ron and Harry in the other, as if they were weightless. He managed to chain all of them to the torture table easily, barely even noticing their struggles.
"All in a day's work," he said, baring his crooked, yellow teeth. "And not a moment too soon either." Looking up, they saw Voldemort arrive on a rare, Black-winged Thestral. He landed and walked over to Harry.
"All these years you have cheated me out of complete power. However, you and your friends will meet your demise tonight!"
He pounced. A woman screamed and shot sparks at him. They barely penetrated his thick coat of hair, but it was enough to distract him from his target. The woman grabbed her son and ran screaming through the village of Hogsmeade. Harry snarled and lunged at her, but she was too fast. She apparated a few metres away to the porch of her house and summoned her son into her arms. She wrenched opened the door and slammed it in Harry's face, just in time as he threw his full weight against the door.
Harry let out a series of throaty barks. He was angry about being cheated out of a meal. Very angry. Someone would pay for this…with their life.
Voldemort cackled evilly. He walked around the table to Hermione's side. He extended a thin, bony hand into her robes.
"Don't touch her you bastard!" Ron shouted, struggling violently against the chains.
"I? I wouldn't dream of it, not with this piece of filth. All I wanted was this," Voldemort said, displaying the wooden box in his hand. "It is easier to keep track of everything in this box than to have to track down creatures in the wild. You will soon see that not only prisoners are kept in here, but the beasts of the night." He removed a piece of glass from the box. "The great leader of the Lunarfucai!" He turned the back of the glass over to reveal a single rune.
"Dominatus," Ginny stated. "You have complete control over it," she said in a flat voice.
"Correct. Rune studies must be helpful at Hogwarts. Too bad you will never see it again," Voldemort laughed. He pointed the tip of his wand at the glass and said "Repercussio!" An image of the werewolf appeared. It was roughly the size of a grizzly bear, it's savage fangs glistening with saliva. It's eyes were dark green, with a hollow of black in the very centre.
"Attack!"
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed that! I hope u didn't mind the swearing too much, but it seemed to fit, especially with ron. Anyway, review plz! And I'm sorry but I don't think I'll be updating this week because it's going to be crazy for me! I promise to update as soon as possible though! And for all those who reviewed, it's greatly appreciated! And special thanks to jd who mentioned Hairy Harry in her story! So…to return the favour, read Just Another Victim of Love by jd, ppl! It's really cute! :) anyhoo, REVIEW!!