I don't usually respond to each reviewer like this, because it annoys me when others do it, but what the hell,
Daydreaming: You are right about Ron and Hermione. It is not something I merely overlooked; I have my motives, devious though they might be. *smiles sarcastically*
Arizosa: I'm blushing shamelessly. I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as the last one.
Mbali: Glad to see you around. I've noticed Cassia's name on your favorites list. Great series, that one, although I haven't read a story since Betrayal. I'm thrilled you like this story.
On to what you came here for…
~*~
The Book of Carmen
Chapter XVIII: An Old Enemy
~*~
It took only moments for the beasts to sense that the defenses were gone and then to begin throwing themselves against the main doors. They screamed painfully as Snape's potion burned their skin and ate through their flesh. However, their madness went beyond pain and they continued to batter the doors, stumbling over the bodies of their dead in an effort to get inside the castle.
The few that remained inside of the Great Hall stood shoulder-to-shoulder and listened to the noise outside. Harry felt a fresh wave of sweat break out over his body upon hearing the horrible screams of the monsters outside. Remus' concern wasn't so much centered on the monsters as it was on himself. He could feel the entity in his mind and he struggled to maintain control.
"Remember, Selene's entrance does not depend on the creatures," Dumbledore said, "She could appear at any time."
Suddenly they heard a large crash and the howls of the beasts echoed throughout the school's halls. "They're inside," Will whispered.
Harry tightened his grip on his wand, and Sirius pulled the hilt of the sword, revealing two inches of the white blade beneath his robes.
The creatures found the doors to the Great Hall and the group inside jumped as the beasts began to pound against it. However, these doors had been given several coatings of Snape's potion and it was far more potent than the front doors of the school. Still the beasts threw themselves against it, shrieking at the pain they were inflicting upon themselves. When Harry thought that he could no longer listen to the agony filled screams, they stopped. The creatures withdrew and an eerie silence fell over the Great Hall, which only increased the anxiety of the group. A strange wind flooded the room in all directions, filling the room with a stale bitter air. Everyone looked around to pinpoint where it was coming from, but there was no apparent source.
"Look at the door," Will said.
The others returned their gaze to the door. A strange black mist appeared to be entering the room. Moving as if it was alive, the mist reached into the room, grabbing at the few tapestries that still hung on the walls. Harry remembered his first confrontation with the Book of Carmen and how it had reached out to him as a mist, as this mist.
The mist grew in intensity and then began to surround the doorframe, oozing in through the cracks, until the door itself appeared to be supported entirely by the blackness. Harry watched as something began to solidify in the center. He held his breath as a long finger emerged, followed by a hand, and an arm, until the entire form of the figure was visible.
Harry heard Sirius catch his breath, and felt his own stop in the back of his throat. Selene now stood in front of them. However, her red hair was now black, the very absence of light. Her skin, while always pale, was as porcelain. Her green eyes, which had so nearly matched Harry's, were no longer green but pitch as well.
She laughed coldly as she surveyed the five figures in front of her, "I see I was expected," she hissed, her voice replaced by the Book's raspy tongue. Harry wanted to cover his ears and he felt Remus stiffen beside him.
"You will not find what you are looking for," Dumbledore said.
"But I already have," she rasped, "I can sense them." She raised her head and closed her eyes, "They are here, beneath us, aren't they?"
"They are beyond your reach," Dumbledore said.
"Hardly. Your efforts to protect your castle were futile, as my children are already running through your halls. Just as your children will soon be running through my veins." Selene raised her arms and the black mist enveloped her she sunk into the ground, disappearing beneath the floor.
"What the hell just happened?" Sirius asked. "Where did she go?"
"She went to find the students."
The only thing that Harry's mind could focus on was Hermione, Ron, and Ginny and what she would do to them. Harry started running to the door.
"Harry, where are you going?" Will asked.
Harry didn't hear him. He didn't think about the creatures that lay in wait just inches beyond the doors or that he would have to face Selene alone. All he could think about were his friends and that he had to warn them. He had his hand on the door when he heard Sirius call his name, "Harry Potter do not leave this room!" At that moment a loud thud hit the door and a growl resonated from behind the wood. Harry snatched his hand away from the door, and started to walk backwards towards the group. Sirius met him halfway and put a hand on his shoulder.
"I'm sorry," Harry said, realizing how stupid his actions had been. "I'm just worried about the others."
"I understand," Sirius said, "but trust Dumbledore."
Harry nodded and the two returned to the group. "What happens now?" Sirius asked.
"We wait for her to return," Dumbledore answered.
"Are you certain she will?" Will asked.
"Oh yes. She will not be able to get to the students, but she won't be able to leave them either. Above all else the entity is greedy and lusts for power, it will not leave until it has the students or until it is destroyed."
"I take it she won't be too happy when she returns?" Remus asked, leaning wearily against one of the giant columns that lined the room.
"I would think not," Dumbledore replied.
~*~
Ron had been watching the Marauder's map. He had seen Selene enter the castle and the room that Harry and the others were in, and he had watched her leave it. Ron was relieved when all five dots began to move around when she left, but his relief turned to fear when he saw which way Selene was headed. Hermione caught on as well and withdrew her wand carefully, as not to alert any of the other students.
Ron's fear increased tenfold with every movement that that Selene made in their direction. Finally, unable to look at it any longer, he put the map away and called Ginny to him. She came obediently and he pushed her behind him and withdrew his own wand. The three moved against the back wall. "Shouldn't we tell a professor?" Hermione whispered.
Ron nodded, "You two stay here." Leaving Hermione and Ginny against the wall Ron walked towards the front of the room. He was aware that everyone started looking at him, because he was obviously frightened and he had his wand raised.
McGonagall approached him, "What is it Mr. Weasley?"
"I think that she…it…is headed down here."
"How do you know this?"
"Er…gut instinct?"
"You are going to have to better than that," McGonagall said. However, further explanation was not needed. The room had been silenced by a great thud on the door.
"Dumbledore must be returning," Professor Borealis, the Arithmancy professor, said. She stood and began to open the door. McGonagall and Ron both shouted for her to stop, but it was too late, the door was already opened. Ron expected to see Selene, or what had become of her, standing in front of them, but instead he saw nothing. Although only opened partially, Ron could tell that nothing was on the other side of the door, except the blackness of the tunnel.
"Headmaster?" Professor Borealis asked and stepped into the darkness. "I don't see him," she said and started to take another step, but Snape reached into the tunnel and pulled her back inside. A screech echoed throughout the room as well as the sound of claws against stone.
Borealis was shaking and her hair was in her face. McGonagall rushed to her side and parted her hair away from her eyes, revealing three giant cuts than ran from the top of her forehead and down to her chin. It looked like one claw had gone through her left eye as well. McGonagall handed her off to Madam Pomfrey and turned to Snape, "Are you okay?"
His robes were torn at the forearm and they were splattered with blood. "I'm fine," he said, conjuring a quick bandage and wrapping his arm, "Get everyone away from the door." He had no sooner uttered the words than the door flew wide, nearly crushing two students who stood behind it. People screamed and everyone moved to the back of the room.
Ron could not remove his eyes from the open door. Several professors tried to shut it, but it would not budge. "Did you see that?" someone asked.
"See what?" another student asked.
"Something in the tunnel, it moved."
"Where?"
"There. Did you see it?"
"No."
Ron saw it. It was just a glimmer and then it was gone. Soon there was another glimmer. More students saw it this time judging by the sounds of people catching their breath and whimpering. Finally Ron was able to discern what was in the shadows, one pair of glowing yellow eyes. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness of the tunnel, Ron was able to make out the shape of head, although he wasn't able to give it any definite form. What he did know was that it was big, really big, almost filling the entire frame of the door. Suddenly it charged as if to enter the room, but it was stopped, held back by an invisible door it had not accounted for. It hissed viciously when its attempt to enter the room failed. More students screamed as all of them now could see the eyes and the hideous head.
When the students screamed it charged again, only to be blocked again. As more students screamed it charged again and again, each time it was unable to enter. Ron began to realize that the screams were enticing it to attack. "Stop screaming," Ron said and when no one paid him any attention he yelled it. "Stop screaming! Can't you see that it attacks more when you scream!"
Eventually the screams died down to whimpers and the being outside the room stopped attacking, and instead, started laughing. It was a horrible laugh, as if someone was scraping two jagged edges of metal together. "No, please keep screaming," it rasped. "Scream until I can return to silence you."
Then it was gone.
~*~
The small group in the Great Hall huddled together drawing comfort from the others. The wait for Selene to return was shredding their nerves. They had finally seen what she had become and now that she was gone their imaginations took flight and they each had a separate nightmare for what would happen when she returned. None more so than Sirius. He began to waver in his decision to use the sword against Selene. Although the creature that he had encountered only moments before was not really her, he could still feel her presence. He ran his hand over the scabbard of the long sword hoping that the magical blade would ignite his determination to end all the suffering, including Selene's. It didn't.
Sirius took a slight glance at Remus who seemed to be holding up pretty well. Sirius had to admit, although reluctantly, that he had been afraid of what Remus might do when he was confronted with the Book again, but his old friend seemed very well composed.
"She's down there," Remus said turning his head to Sirius, "with the students."
"How do you know that?" Will asked.
"She's showing them to me," Remus said, his expression pained.
"Why?"
"She wants me to know her power."
"What exactly do you see?" Dumbledore asked.
Remus paused and squinted his eyes as if trying to focus on a very blurry picture, "She's trying to get into the room. The doors are open, but she can't get through."
"Are the students safe?" Sirius asked.
"They appear to be."
"Thank God," Will said exhaling a long held breath.
Remus laughed mirthlessly, "Don't thank Him yet."
"Why not?" Will asked.
"Because she's coming back here."
No sooner had Remus said this than the eerie black mist began to seep up from underneath the floor. Sirius held out an arm and pushed Harry away from the encroaching mist. Slowly Selene's form appeared from the blackness. She had a slight smile on her face, the mocking grin of a cat with a mouse. Her eyes were fierce, and when Sirius looked within them hoping to see any sign of Selene, he found none. Sirius felt only anger and rage in her gaze. She studied each of them with her black eyes before she spoke, her voice stilling the dust in the air, "So you have managed to find something even older than I. I would not have thought that possible. Congratulations. However, it is nothing more than a mere cupboard. I will have them yet."
"You will never have them!" Dumbledore said with such force that the four behind him felt their own strength renewed.
"It is a setback, nothing more," she hissed. "All I need is one of you to lead them out of that room."
"No one here will help you," Dumbledore said.
"You will find Albus Dumbledore that I can become very persuasive," she said and then walked over towards Will. Sirius saw Will's body stiffen as she approached, his face devoid of color. "You amuse me, William McGinn," she said and smiled at the look on his face. "Oh do not look so surprised that I know your name, I know all of your names. I know everything about you," she said as two of her fingers crawled lazily up his shoulder. Will cringed at her touch, but did not back away. "You committed dark crimes William. You tortured two souls until madness overtook their bodies and minds, and yet you blamed others for these deeds. They became your absolution, washing away your sin and guilt." She leaned in close to Will and whispered into his ear, "You make me very proud."
Will backed away and pointed his wand at Selene, "Stay away from me, I am not a part of you. I will not release those children to you!"
The smile on her face softened as she approached Remus. Sirius could see his friend's body shaking. She noticed it as well and laughed at the sight. "My dear Remus, why do you still fear me? I owe you so much," she said as she pulled The Book of Carmen out of her shapeless robes. The Book glowed with a faint green light that pulsed like a heartbeat. She spoke again, closing the distance between them with every word. "You kept me safe, Remus Lupin. You protected and nurtured me. Yet still you pull away from me. You resist what you are. I could make it so much easier, I could take away your pain." With the quickness of a cobra, she grabbed his shoulders and kissed him. Her robes encased them and for a while the two were locked alone in their embrace. Sirius clawed through the bilious robes, but could not reach Remus. Finally the robes parted and Remus staggered out, his wand directed at Selene. "Get away from me you bitch!" Remus exclaimed, spitting on the floor. "I am not a part of you and never will be. No matter what you offer."
Selene's smile disappeared. Sirius realized that Remus' refusal had caught her off guard. Dumbledore smiled at the creature, "This is your end." She screamed and struck Dumbledore with great force, but somehow he managed to stay on his feet. However, three bloody trails marked the path of her nails across his face.
Selene turned to Harry, her mocking smile returned, "Such a light comes from you Harry Potter, it is almost blinding."
Sirius stepped between the two of them and pulled the sword from its scabbard. Selene took a step back, but did not seem to fear the blade. "Leave him alone," Sirius said evenly.
Selene threw her head back and laughed. At first it was hideous and guttural, and Sirius felt as if a thousand needles were piercing his ears, but the laugh changed. It became deep and more human, however the maliciousness remained. It was a laugh that Sirius remembered far too well. It was Voldemort's laugh.
Sirius stepped back. "Remus, take Harry," he whispered.
Sirius heard Remus step up beside him and take Harry off to the side, but his eyes never left the figure of Selene. When it spoke next it did so with Voldemort's voice. "Black," he hissed and turned to Dumbledore, "and Albus Dumbledore."
"It can't be," Sirius whispered.
"I assure you Sirius, that I am very real."
"How is that?" Will asked.
"Because the entity allowed me to pay you visit. I am very much alive and have been residing within the Book, waiting until it and I are released. And that will be a great day indeed."
"Allowed you to visit?" Dumbledore asked with the slightest flicker of a smile. "Tell me, you mean you are taking orders from the Book? I thought Lord Voldemort obeyed no one."
Voldemort laughed, "I am merely a student. My time spent with the one who resides within the pages of the Book has taught me a great deal, and I am a very eager learner." He turned back to Sirius, "I suppose I have your wife to thank for that, the very beautiful and fragile Selene. You should see her now. She's still here, inside The Book, inside of the entity, inside of me."
Sirius raised the sword next to Selene's neck, it's cold surface burning her skin. Her head tilted slightly and Voldemort spoke again, "Is your hate for me so great that you would destroy the woman you love?"
Sirius gritted his teeth and did not move the sword.
Voldemort smiled, "Yes, I believe it is. But is it so great that you would harm the child?"
Sirius turned away briefly to look at Harry. Remus had his hands on Harry's shoulders. Harry was fine. "You'll have to go through all four of us to get to Harry," Sirius said.
Voldemort laughed, "Not that child." Voldemort breathed slowly, his breath sounding like it was being sucked through a straw. He smiled, "She didn't tell you, did she?" Selene's head leaned close to Sirius' ear, "Selene is pregnant."
Sirius froze. Selene reached up and removed the blade from her neck, a small ribbon of smoke appeared as her fingers wrapped around the blade. Voldemort hissed as the smoke dissipated, "This body is still Selene's and it still ties all of us to the physical realm. You destroy the body and you destroy your child."
"You're lying," Remus said.
"Am I?" Voldemort asked and then shrugged, almost carelessly, "I could be. But he doesn't think so." Voldemort said nodding to Sirius, who seemed to be in a trance.
"He won't help you," Harry said.
Selene glided over to him. "Harry Potter," Voldemort spat, "Why aren't you cowering behind old magic like your school mates? Do you believe that the fools in this room can offer you any sort of protection?"
"I stayed to destroy you," Harry said, impressed with his own bravery.
"You still believe yourself to be invincible? Let me prove just how wrong you are!" Voldemort said and Selene's hand was raised, a thin wisp of mist emerged and wrapped itself tightly around Harry's chest. He struggled against it, but it only bound him tighter. Suddenly he felt as if the mist was inside of him, squeezing his lungs. He gasped for air. Remus tried to help Harry, but a blast from her other hand sent him flying backwards into one of the columns.
Red flames leapt from the wands of Dumbledore and Will, but the creature shrugged them off, "How does it feel to have your life energy drain from your body?"
"I told you to leave him alone," Sirius said, coming out of his trance and standing behind Harry with his wand pointed at Selene's breast. Voldemort smiled, "What do you intended to do with that?"
"This," Sirius said and the same red flame leapt from Sirius' wand and struck Voldemort. However, this time it had a very different effect. Voldemort released Harry who fell into a heap on the floor. The black mist that surrounded Selene began to react violently and lashed about the room. Sirius pulled Harry away as the mist enveloped Selene and then with a shriek they disappeared once more.
The unnatural wind left the room as well and it regained the warmth that Harry had always associated with it. Harry inhaled the warm air deeply, letting his lungs fill completely before releasing his breath. He realized that he had his eyes shut and when he opened them he saw Sirius looking at him, his eyes full of concern. "Are you okay?" Sirius asked. Harry nodded and was about to say something when Sirius pulled him close and embraced him. Harry relaxed in his godfather's arms as the two sat in the middle of the floor, the great sword lying forgotten at their feet.
~*~
Can't tell you how long I've been waiting to reveal that little secret.