Disclaimer : - The world of Harry Potter isn't mine – wish it was – but belongs to JK Rowling… anything from the books is hers not mine…. Anything else is probably mine. Not getting anything but fun from writing this etc etc etc….

The fic is Rate R ….. if you are not old enough to read it etc then please don't

Spanning the River of Blood

By Ridley-Roo

Chapter 20 – Riding the Wind

Albus Dumbledore sat behind his desk staring out into space and worried.  Despite his advancing years and already grey hair he wondered if the current situation would age him even further.  Things were not proceeding as planned.

Layla Green was proving rather stubborn in discussing anything of importance, and simply refused to be drawn into the struggle with Voldemorte.  He had tried pointing out that she was already involved as they were undoubtedly after her as could be witnessed by the incident in the park just prior to her arrival.  But it had no affect on her what so ever.

The black cat known as Jake was still proving an enigma and Layla refused to even talk about him or his behaviour.  Lupin could shed little except to confirm that Katrina had sent cat food back with Layla's belongings.  This worried him more than he cared to admit even to himself.  How had it found it's way to Hogwarts and how come he despite his best efforts e could find no more out about the creature.

The atmosphere in the castle was strangely unfamiliar, even though he had been a resident for over a century things felt unfamiliar.  In all that time he had never seen as much greenery inside its stone walls, but suddenly Jasmine seemed to be sprouting everywhere.  The house elves seemed preoccupied and their standards of service were definitely slipping.  In fact he was starting to wonder if they were up to something.

An emissary from the Centaurs had arrived that morning requesting a meeting.  Minerva was still threatening part of his anatomy he would prefer to keep to himself, and worst of all, Snape seemed almost happy.

Snape and happy were not words he was used to placing in the same sentence and it was causing him great concern.  Their dark potions master was only ever in that sort of mood when he had the upper hand in a situation and was biding his time to spring a trap.  So the question became - who was he about to spring a trap on?  The house moves didn't seem to be affecting him as much as Dumbledore had hoped.  Surely he hadn't been able to figure out who or should he say what Layla Green was.  Blast the man what was he up to!

* * * * * *

Snape was feeling rather smug as he sat at the head table for dinner.  Despite his smelly encounter the level of terror he could create with a simple glance seemed to be undiminished in the student population.  He had spent years building his reputation to it's legendary status and the thought of it all crashing down around his feet was more than he could bear.

Ms Green had not appeared for dinner again this evening and although this had given him a chance to pump various members of the staff for information, it had also meant that he was unable to question their guest any further.  Throughout the day he had worked on a couple of Miss Grangers theories and now felt that he needed to ask some probing questions of the enigmatic Ms Green before he could refine them any further.  Naturally he thought, as he scowled at his desert, this would of course mean that he would be unable to find her.  Eventually he grew bored of pushing his sticky toffee pudding around in the bowl and decided to head out into the castle for a prowl.

Deep in thought headed off into the maze of corridors and started to prowl for rule breaking students.

 * * * * * *

Layla Green sat perched on one of the battlements at the top of the castle.  Facing into the breeze she wasn't worried about falling but instead closed her eyes and let the cool air flow over her.  Slowly her mind wandered into a meditative trance and set about sorting out the jumble that had been the previous few days.

Her arrival at the castle and subsequent interaction with its inhabitants had been interesting but not she felt her main reason for being here.  That she had been drawn here was obvious as she had known even without Dumbledore's story about protective wards that this had been the place she had visited in her vision back in the lay-by.  She didn't doubt what he had told her about a massive struggle between the forces of good and evil, with his side forming the side of good naturally.  His aura had shown her no deceit in that matter.  However she simple felt that she wasn't here to get involved.  Her heart was leading her to something else and that was what her mind concentrated on now.

After what felt like a lifetime of sleepless nights she was now falling asleep for hours at a time.  This would normally have been a good thing she knew except that every time she slept she found herself back at the meadow.  In fact she was starting to find herself able to go there without the aid of sleep anymore which clearly told her that this wasn't a metaphorical dream.

So what was the meadow all about?

Over successive visits she had explored its edges and found the way into the woods always barred.  The only way out seemed to be either back to 'this' reality or across the stream.  But the stream was more than just a simple case of water running down a shallow gully.  Three times she had made to step across.  From the bank it was only a few feet and shouldn't prove to be a problem.  Yet every time she started to cross, the gently flowing waters had transformed into a raging torrent, the distance to the other side multiplying until she stood on the bank of a raging river.  The clear crystal water became a deep vivid red, the metallic smell rising up identifying it as blood.

Oreas had proved to be of little help as all it would say was that in order reach the other side she must cross the river.  That had been after her second attempt to cross and she had concluded that it was another riddle.  With that in mind she had resolved to cross it on her third attempt.  She had even held her breath so that the stench of the blood wouldn't make her nauseous, but the waves of what she could only describe as evil that washed over her as she had readied herself to enter the water had been to strong.  So now when she slept she made no attempt to leave the meadow.

* * * * * * *

Snape circled up above the castle and smiled inwardly at the freedom of flight.  Despite the commonly held beliefs of the students and staff he was capable of happiness, and flying was always good for raising his spirits.  The transformation had taken him years of practice in secret to perfect.  No one knew.  It was the one thing in his life that no one had even been able to poison, sully or manipulate.  It belonged purely to him.  He treasured these rare moments when he rode the thermals and silently knew it was all that had kept him sane.

Slowly he started to descend flying in close to the walls before whooshing back out into the night.  As he worked his way round the walls heading towards his new rooms he saw her.  Sitting still as a statue was the form of Layla Green.  This was to good an opportunity to resist so he continued on until he came to a convenient landing spot where he could transform back into human form.  Gliding behind a convenient statue he changed quickly and headed back to where she was sitting.  Now was his chance to get some answers.