Follow My Way

Prologue- Three Words

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Flutter girl you don't wanna know what I live

You don't wanna take what I give

Cause I give nothing for free -"Flutter Girl" Chris Cornell

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She felt as though she had been running forever. The wind in her face was biting, snatching what little breath she still had from her mouth and making her already wild mass of hair even more so. Her legs ached to the point that she could barely feel they were there but she couldn't stop. She knew what was behind her, waiting for her to give into her bodies weakness and fall. In her mind she could see past the grasping hands and through the glinting silver masks and into the dark hearts.

The world buzzed and pulsed with the subtle movements of the night. Everything was wrong. Her vision was sharp through the darkness helping her dodge trees and obstacles. Only luck stood between her and stumbling, only an arm width kept her from capture and her mind was whirling. Nothing made sense but moving, no thoughts passed through her normally logical mind and the world took on a glow of unreality.

As trees around her grew more sparse and far between she could see out over the ground of her destination, it was so close she could almost feel the relief getting there would bring her. They couldn't follow her there; she'd be safe. Safe... but a hand grasped her waist and pulled her flush against a lean, robed body like a vice.

"No," she panted out, though she wasn't even sure if she's spoken out loud. The sound of her own heartbeat filled her ears. Her whole body recoiled as cool metal touched her cheek. Of it's own accord her body began shaking with terror and exhaustion. She was going to die...

Blinking sweat from her eyes, she struggled to open her mouth, to form words but was stopped by a gloved hand grabbing her mouth. " Tsk, tsk, tsk... You didn't put up much of a fight, little mouse." The cold drawling tones were unmistakably female. "Those words don't belong to you. Fortunately I know a way that will make it a... pleasure... to get them back."

Thrusting her down onto the packed dirt of the forest, the Death Eater pressed a booted foot into her stomach to keep her down and laughed. It echoed in her head, the laughter along with the thousands of night sounds around her, her ragged breath and the blood pulsing through her. They all roared in her ears until she couldn't focus, until all she saw above her was the silver of the moon and the metal of the masks.

"We can't have you fighting, mouse," the woman hissed. The silver of the moon was broken by a black line, a thin blotch in her sight that triggered something in her head. Her fingers clawed at the earth but she was only pressed harder into the dirt. Bile rose up in her throat as the earthy smell filtered through her senses, making her aware of the smell of blood coming from within the bodies around her. Her stomach was rolling, gagging on all the smells, the acute pressure on her stomach and her fear.

She was going to vomit but she couldn't tear her eyes from the wand that seemed to block the moon. It was moving slowly downward, the sole object of her attention and suddenly there were no sounds, no sights and no smells. There was nothing but the moving wand. Her whole body tensed and filled with a molten fire, every pore in her body burned and swelled with it. It was pouring outward, moving through her with sharp edges and biting teeth. She was dying... she could feel it. Her eyes closed, blotting out the moon and the wand and she screamed.

Screamed until her breath ran out and her throat was raw and running with blood. She screamed to block out the pain that rushed over her like a wave and the sounds and smells that returned in one sickening instant. She screamed until she thought she would die but as the sound stopped and she fell into blackness she was the only creature in the clearing that was still alive.

***

"Arabella Figg is dead." Albus Dumbledore addressed the room in front of him with a somber tone. He stood behind his great desk holding its surface, as if for support though his posture was not slumped. Across from him the gaunt form of Sirius Black was draped across chair, his clenched hand grasped tightly by that of a shaken Remus Lupin who sat beside him. Minerva McGonagall was sitting tensely on the edge of a chair that had been pushed against the wall on the opposite side of the room from her former students. A hush descended on the room at Dumbledore's last words and was not broken for several moments.

Hovering at the back of the chamber Severus Snape stood with his arms crossed across his lean chest, his dour features moved into an unreadable expression. The announcement had come as no surprise to him, he'd felt it when the old witch had died and his mind had started working at the possibilities. He was the first to speak, his voice measured and low, with the minimal amount of it's usual bite. "Voldemort will have harvested her words then and given them to his Death Eaters. We have lost a lot more than an ally with Arabella's death."

"You cold hearted bastard, it was probably one of your friends that did the killing," Sirius shouted, his eyes narrowed with fury. Only Lupins' firm grip on his arm kept him from rising from his chair. " We've lost human life tonight and all this dodgy git can say is that we've lost words! Amazing."

"Severus is aware of the human loss, Sirius, but merely addresses the deeper problem." Removing his hand from the desk Dumbledore moved to peer out the window behind him, the twinkle returning to his eyes. "I do believe that we need not worry beyond the sadness of a fallen compatriot. It seems her burden has been given to another, more unlikely source."

"What do you mean, Albus?" Minerva asked when the Headmaster made no move to elaborate on his cryptic remarks.

" It seems the ambience is in possession of a brand new Magus, Minerva. I believe we will find a very dazed, though not terribly injured, Hermione Granger just within the forest along with those foolish enough to attack her."

McGonagall rose to her feet abruptly at the mention of one of her Gryffindors and opened her mouth to speak but was cut off by Snapes humorless laughter. " If you were thinking of calling Poppy at this hour to aid Ms. Granger it would only prove to irritate the medi-witch. This situation needs to be handled with something a little more subtle than the failsafe Gryffindor 'charge in and trample' method."

Sweeping toward the door he merely inclined an eyebrow as Sirius tried to rise again and smirked disagreeably. " Black, other than proving my point you will be useless in this endeavor. We're going to need our wits about us if the girl is truly in possession of Arabella's words; she has more power than she can even comprehend."

Remus ran his fingers through his shaggy, flaxen hair and sighed. " She'll be hypersensitive even if she's unconscious; she'd smell the blood on me. It's too close to the full moon."

Snape sneered and looked to the headmaster. "Then Black will assist me, though his blundering could cause more damage then aid." Then he turned and strode soundlessly from the room with Sirius forced to run at his heels, cursing.

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