A/N: aloha!!! Hehe, it's me again!! I'm sorry this took sooo looong to
update, my computer (and family for one thing) were NOT cooperating!! So
because of that, this chapter is longer than the last one. I KNOW that last
chapter was particularly vicious with the cliffhangers and you guys wanna
know what happens next!!! I'd like to thank, once again, my lovely, lovely
readers, *mwah*, ur reviews r like the BEST Christmas presents. To a Very
Interested Reader: you gave a REALLY good question a few chapters back, I
should've cleared it up: why did Eve go thru all the trouble to save
Sirius, couldn't he get past the dementors himself?? Well, remember that
Wormtail KNOWS Sirius can turn into a dog, so Voldie must've alerted the
dementors to be on the lookout for a big, black, dog. Because Eve saved him
but told them Sirius was dead, he had the element of surprise on the
dementors. But they DID notice him, and he ran into Wormtail and..well,
you'll find out. Also, ya, you were right, Snape IS not that stupid, and
again, you'll see what happens in the next chapter. Thanks for the
question!! Also, thanks a million to Lbj5411, for reviewing!! Merry
Christmas!!!!
Chapter Seventeen: Life and Death
Sirius was staring into the beady eyes the short, bald man in front of him. It was Wormtail, the one man he loathed most in the entire world, even more than Snape. He had been one of his best friends all throughout their childhood, along with James, (Harry's father), and Remus Lupin. But he had been secretly in league with Voldemort and revealed James and Lily's whereabouts to him and framed Sirius. He was the reason Harry's parents were dead; he was the reason Sirius had been in prison for thirteen years; he was also the one who helped Voldemort rise again three years ago. Needless to say, he was growling viciously at the man standing before him, ready to attack. Wormtail, however, merely looked at him as if he were confronting a flubberworm.
He chuckled and stuck out his hand-the one made out of silver, that Voldemort had given him-and a bright flash of blinding light zoomed and hit Sirius, flinging him back several feet. He landed painfully, slamming against a tree truck. After a flash of blue light, he was staring at Wormtail through human eyes, which were now screwed up in anger. His lip was bleeding, which was visible now that he had changed.
"Murderer," he muttered through heaving breaths.
"Why did you come here, Sirius? Thinking you could save someone, be a hero? Well you couldn't save them sixteen years ago, and you can't do anything now." Wormtail was walking closer and closer to him, with an uncharacteristic pride.
"You're confident now, are you? Last time I saw you, you were nothing but a pathetic, disgusting rat. You were begging Harry for your life."
"And the boy was foolish enough to give it to me," he sneered.
Sirius was staring at him intensely and muttered to himself, " I'm about to fix that." He whipped out his wand but Wormtail was too quick, because he had his hand. He yelled, "Expelliarmus," and Sirius's wand flew out of his hand. Another flash of light and he was flung against the tree again, the impact causing several branches and leaves to fall to the ground. His back in agony, and not being able to think clearly, he decided to go for brute strength. He changed into a dog again and lunged toward Wormtail, who had an astonished look on his face but after another flash, he was changed back. But a human Sirius wasn't that less of a threat. He punched Wormtail on the side of his face, and he was knocked unconscious.
"I could always beat you in a fistfight, Peter," he said, getting up, but then his eyes widened to the size of dinner platters. In his fight with Wormtail, he hadn't realized that the forest was steadily appearing darker, due to the rows of about ten dementors closing in on them, blocking the moonlight and freezing the surrounding air.
"No," he uttered, but the despairing glacial wave was already overtaking him.
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Harry sat there, looking at Ron, but at a total loss as what to do. Ever since the dementors had arrived, his scar was steadily aching, but he had gotten used to it almost, thinking it was only because of the dementors. But now Ron was having disturbing dreams, and given his generally happy family life, that did not usually happen. But Dumbledore's words suddenly came to him. The dementors were not letting anyone inside or outside the castle; Voldemort was free to do whatever he pleased near the school.
Suddenly a sharp jolt of pain sent him reeling to the floor and yelling in pain. Then it stopped as suddenly as it began, but his temples were still throbbing. He held his face in his hands. Ron glanced at Neville and Seamus; fortunately, both weren't awake, although Neville gave a loud snort but turned around and continued sleeping. He ran to Harry.
"He's close, I can feel it," he gasped. He was sitting on his knees, had taken off his glasses, and was kneeling his head close to the floor.
"Harry, we can't stay here and let You-Know-Who do whatever he wants!" Ron cried.
Harry raised his head, which was still in pain. He managed to say, "The castle is surrounded by dementors. There's simply too many of them. You heard Dumbledore. He said they needed at least 50 Aurors."
"Hermione! She can turn into a phoenix. She can help us get past them." Ron suggested.
Harry lowered his hand from his face, put on his glasses, and looked at him sternly. His stony expression was almost frightening. "Ron, listen to yourself. You want to put Hermione in danger? If anything happened to her, I would never forgive myself. Would you?"
Ron lowered his head and shook it. "So we're not going to do anything?" he asked. He was staring at him imploringly. Harry knew what he was thinking; Harry had faced Voldemort before many times and miraculously survived: why was he backing out now?
"Ron, listen. Everybody says that I defeated You-Know-Who many times. But most of the time I just escaped him in the nick of time. Besides, isn't that just what he's expecting? Chances are, we don't need to go looking for him: he'll probably find ME."
The disappointment in Ron's face almost heartbreaking. "Harry, what's gotten into you? You don't usually take things sitting and waiting." Harry looked at his face, which was so familiar after seven years. Harry had no family and his godfather was on the run. The only people left in the world which made his life worth living were his friends. He stared at Ron; he knew him so well that he knew the placement of every freckle, every nervous habit he had, even sometimes what he would say before he said it. He felt the same for Hermione. He was closer to them than if he was their brother. If anything would ever happen..he couldn't even bear to imagine it.
Harry leaned closer to him. The pain in his head was almost making him dizzy, but he spoke each word slowly and clearly. "I don't want to see you or Hermione put in danger anymore." Harry was never anyone to back down or do anything cowardly. But right now his emerald eyes had never been so sincere . He wanted to go out and fight-- more than anything else. But every time him and his friends escaped from Voldemort, it seemed more and more as if they wouldn't be so lucky next time. He had a tendency to lose people close to him in his life. Ron knew that he probably would not be able to endure it again. Ron opened his mouth, but wasn't able to say anything. Harry said, "Go to sleep, Ron. You just had a nightmare."
"But your scar-"
"Damn that! I said forget it." Harry climbed back in bed and roughly pulled the covers over him. Ron just stood transfixed in his place, looking after him.
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Eve fell to her knees, pain coursing with her blood all throughout her body. She felt as if an enormous weight was pressing against her chest, not letting her breathe. Her hands were red and sticky with blood-her own. She was becoming lightheaded with the loss of blood. She gazed up at her father, the shiny knife still dripping scarlet. He was just standing in front of her, staring. He was going to stand there and watch her die.
"You bastard," she heaved, her eyes shiny with tears. The figure was silent. Before he stabbed her, her anger had been steadily rising, like water coming to a boil. Then she had been thrown into a numb shock, and it took her a few seconds to fully realize what he had done. Now she was seething with fury, which was spreading through her like poison. If she was going to die, she would do it gaining revenge. She stretched out her hand and let the full extent of her anger rush through her fingers. A beam of red light flashed, but he was ready: he held out his wand and blocked it with a blue beam. Eve, however, was stronger : she was fighting with the last ounce of her strength, determined to make this the last thing she ever does. She forced her spell even further, and a blinding white light flashed with the intensity of a small explosion. He stumbled backward, and she didn't know if he was hurt. But the spell had completely drained her of any energy she had, and she collapsed onto the earth, the grass staining scarlet.
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Sirius was yelling in despair now. The dementors were feet away from him, but he could see nothing but flashbacks. Scenes played through his head like a movie on fast forward. He saw Godric's Hollow, Lily and James' house in ruins, Harry as a baby crying, in that awful moment, like Sirius, seeming to realize that he'd be alone in the world, the ghastly Dark Mark flashing green against the inky sky. He remembered realizing how horribly wrong he had been about Peter.Then he saw the bodies, and he crumpled in anguish.
One of the dementors was about to lower its hood, to give him the fatal kiss. He was going to die drowning in his despised memories; he didn't want it to end like this. Then a voice seemed to halt everything.
"No. We need to take him to the Dark Lord. He may want him for something." It was Wormtail. He had regained consciousness. His eye was bleeding and a magnificent purple bruise was spreading across the entire side of his face. But he was standing and holding Sirius's wand, along with his own, although he didn't need any of them. The dementors desisted, and Wormtail made a set of iron shackles appear out of nowhere, closing in on Sirius's wrists. He stretched out his hand and forced him to stand up.
"Go back and stand guard against the castle. Dumbledore might have even sent him as a diversion." (Athough he himself doubted that, knowing Sirius). The dementors obeyed, and slowly made their way back. One remained, and went with them deeper into the forest, which had suddenly grown eerily silent.
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Eve lay on the ground, the smell of grass and blood invading her senses, which were otherwise blurred. She was breathing very slowly, agonizing that she would die in the middle of a forest, freezing due to loss of blood; but most of all, that was going to be all alone.
She was expecting to drift slowly away into some inky darkness, but she felt her vision becoming clearer. She was even feeling her strength coming back to her. Was she delirious? She managed to get up, and even though her chest was still throbbing, the pain had subsided. She wiped her hair out of her eyes, wet with the dew of grass, and threw back her cloak, darkened and sticky with blood. She saw the enormous stain in the middle of her shirt, still bright red. Her hands were covered in blood. But when she raised her shirt, there was no wound.
"Yes. The one thing which I have worked my entire life to gain, that I have made the purpose of all my experiments, you were born with: Immortality. And I was the one who gave it to you."
His sharp, slightly amused voice made her turn around. She was breathing heavily, as if she had been running. She was looking at him incredulously.
"Don't believe me? Perhaps I should show you again," he said, pleased.
She held up her hand, "No," she said, apparently convinced. Her mind was swimming back into focus. She remembered that day in Snape's class. the basilisk venom touching her skin, and yet not harming her.With a pang she remembered the expression on Harry's face when he saw her fall.
"Well, child? I have just told you that you are unable to die, and you have nothing to say?" His voice became harsh.
Eve became angry again. "What? You just stabbed me with a knife! Do you expect me to be thrilled? To run into your arms thanking you?"
He merely said, "One who does not show gratitude is not loyal."
" You didn't do any benevolent favor to me. You merely did it to gain immortality yourself. There is always a natural balance to things. For example, good is balanced by evil. So there cannot be only one immortal being; there must be two, to keep that balance."
"So you know more about magic than I thought," he replied.
"I also know that I will not be subjugated by you. You don't want a groveling daughter, do you?" she said, her voice hardening.
"Certainly not," he said, his voice rising even higher with pleasure. Then a rustling of leaves and snapping of twigs under feet made them both turn. It was Wormtail, and towering behind him was a dementor. Eve lowered her head, trying to push the screaming and crashing noises she heard the last day she had been in her own house.
In between them was Sirius, walking, in shackles, as if he was being moved against his will. He looked extremely weary. The dark circles under his eyes were twice their size. When he saw Eve, her clothes covered in blood, he turned even more pale, yet more animated. "Good God!" he yelled, and he leaped towards her, but the dementor merely put a scabbed hand on his shoulder, and he fell back, weakened.
Voldemort looked at him, but he did not look back. Sirius was even more amazed at Harry, who had been able to face him year after year since he was eleven.
"Sirius Black. Godfather to one of my enemies. Sometimes I feel insulted that people even believed that you could have been one of my followers." He motioned to Eve. "I wonder if you have met my daughter. She is unharmed, but that will be all the worse for you."
Wormtail was eyeing her warily, and with great dislike. "Master, I wouldn't trust her if I were you." He turned to him.
"I am thankful every day I am nothing like you, Wormtail."
Wormtail answered quickly. "She is in league with Black. The dementors informed me that yesterday she went past them, carrying him, saying he was dead. She saved him, Master." He finished with a satisfied smile. Sirius looked terrified. The cloaked figure turned towards Eve.
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After looking at Harry disbelievingly for a few minutes, Ron finally, although grudgingly, crawled back into bed. But right after he did, a white flash from outside illuminated the room for an instant, followed by a roar like thunder. Both he and Harry raised their heads.
"What was that?"
"I don't know, but I'm going to find out." Ron leapt out of bed, but Harry, whose reflexes had been sharper due to Quidditch, was in front of the door before him.
"Ron," he began, but Ron had his wand already raised.
"Stupefy!" he shouted, and Harry fell to the floor, unconscious. Ron looked after him sadly. "I'm sorry, mate." He grabbed Harry's Invisibility cloak and went out the door.
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Sirius was looking at Eve. She seemed completely unruffled, even though she was in the company of a dementor and the most evil living wizard in the world. Her eyes, however, revealed otherwise. When she saw Sirius, she looked shocked for an instant, and for a wild second he thought she dropped something she was holding in her hand; but she quickly recovered herself. She was now looking coolly at Wormtail, but was gazing at Sirius from the corner of her eye.
"Wormtail, is it? You must be more stupid than I thought," she replied. " I saved him only because Dumbledore specifically instructed me to do so. If I didn't he would be suspicious of me." Wormtail backed down somewhat, but he did not look satisfied.
"It is alright. It is a good thing you brought Black to me, alive. Another flash of foresight I would not have expected. If you are unconvinced, then she will now prove herself." He turned to Eve. "Kill him," he hissed.
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Harry felt himself being shaken awake. He blinked his eyes, but his vision was still blurry. "Harry, Harry!" a familiar voice was calling his name, and for a split second he thought he was dreaming. Then he felt someone straighten his hair out of his eyes and put on his glasses. He blinked again and saw who it was: Hermione.
"Harry! What happened? Where's Ron?" She was very worried. Harry sat up, rubbing his back where he had fallen, looking at Hermione as if he STILL thought he was dreaming.
"What are you doing here?"
Hermione looked frustrated. "Are you blind?"
Harry smiled. "My optometrist says I almost am."
She became even more ruffled. " Didn't you see that big flash of light? It took me a while to get to the tower, trying not to make any noise, but I came here to see if you guys were doing anything about it. I knew you guys would leave without me. Ron would want to protect me and all, but you know what I can turn into. I'm going to help you."
"Did I miss something? Was someone handing out hero pills? Why do all my friends suddenly have death wishes?"
Hermione looked at him sternly. "Where's Ron?"
Then another voice with a faint Irish accent came from one of the beds in the corner. "Harry probably got rid of him so you two can have an illicit make out session in peace." It was Seamus, with a huge grin plastered on his face. "Tsk, tsk, Hermione. You being Head Girl and all, and sneaking into boy's dormitories late in the night." Hermione made a shocked noise, and was about to protest when she saw the amused look on Harry's face. He had realized how the situation looked. Here was Hermione, in his dorm room at an ungodly hour, with Ron missing, and Harry flushed and lying on the floor with her sitting on top of him. She looked down at him, turned so red that it was even visible in the semi-darkness, and got off Harry.
Harry smirked. "That's right, Seamus, and if you say anything, I'll beat you to death with a shovel."
Seamus grinned even wider. "Don't worry, your secret's safe with me." Then he blinked and raised an eyebrow. " A shovel?"
"Yeah. Now go back to sleep."
"I can't. You two are loud enough to drown out even Neville snoring." Harry made an exasperated noise and hastily grabbed his school robes and led Hermione out to the Gryffindor Common Room. With the colored moonlight streaming into the wide stained-glass windows he could see that she was already fully dressed.
He turned serious and whispered to Hermione. " Ron saw that flash, too. He went to see what's going on, and because he thought I wasn't going to let him go, he hit me with a Stunning Spell and apparently, left with my cloak."
Hermione was listening to this with her mouth slightly open in shock. "Is he mad? He'll get killed!"
Harry looked grim. "Yeah. I guess we have no choice but to go after the great prat." He rummaged through his pockets. "He didn't even bother to take this." He held out the Marauder's Map, which used to belong to his father, Sirius, Lupin, and Wormtail, when they were still friends.
"Harry! We can see where Ron is," Hermione said, and they both looked at the map, which showed the whole school. Sure enough, they saw a dot labeled "Ronald Weasley" in none other than Eve's room. With a sigh, Hermione was relieved (although guiltily so) that he was alone.
"What's he doing there? Where's Eve?" Harry asked. He scanned the map and gaped when he saw the Forbidden Forest. In the middle of it, he saw four dots: Eve Riddle, Peter Pettigrew, and (Hermione gasped when she saw it) Tom Riddle. And in the middle of it all stood a dot labeled Sirius Black.
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When Ron first walked out of the dormitory with Harry's cloak over his head, he was spurred on with the adrenaline rush of finally doing something that might have an important effect. However, as he walked out of the Gryffindor Common Room, (with the Fat Lady in the portrait guarding the entrance giving him an annoyed look at waking her up), his feelings of bravery somewhat diminished. Even Harry did not want to go with him this time. He had never felt so alone, and worst of all, he hadn't had the faintest idea of what to do. He realized that he forgot to take the Marauder's Map, but he didn't want to go back: Harry might have woken up. If he saw where he was and came after him, that was fine. He paused to think where to go. He thought perhaps a good starting point would be to go see Eve. She was getting strange mysterious letters which were no doubt about her father. She might have an idea of what's going on, and although he realized he would look awfully stupid waking her up in the middle of the night and asking her about flashes of light, he couldn't come up with a better plan. He only hoped she wouldn't be too angry with him and turn him into a toad.
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Sirius could do nothing but stare in shock. "Kill him," Voldemort repeated when he saw that Eve had not moved. She was staring straight at Sirius, her face frozen, but her eyes intense. They kept on flicking towards the ground. Sirius glanced towards his feet and stopped himself from stepping back in startlement. He saw a twig which was about a few inches long. What startled him was that it was silently, but unmistakably moving. It was rolling towards him, its little branches sticking at angles and making it look as if it were an insect.
Eve spoke out loud. "All right, father," she emphasized the last word, and raised her hand towards Sirius. He felt the familiar ripple of panic, then heard Eve's sharp voice in his head: 'Pick it up!' He didn't need to be told twice. Just as a white flash of light left her fingers, he swiftly bent over and picked up the twig. And disappeared.
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A/N: I know! I know! You're wondering " What about the KISS???" This chapter ended up waaay longer than expected, so it'll be in the NEXT chapter, I promise!!! (Don't hurt me!!j/k) Trust me, it'll be worth the wait!!
Chapter Seventeen: Life and Death
Sirius was staring into the beady eyes the short, bald man in front of him. It was Wormtail, the one man he loathed most in the entire world, even more than Snape. He had been one of his best friends all throughout their childhood, along with James, (Harry's father), and Remus Lupin. But he had been secretly in league with Voldemort and revealed James and Lily's whereabouts to him and framed Sirius. He was the reason Harry's parents were dead; he was the reason Sirius had been in prison for thirteen years; he was also the one who helped Voldemort rise again three years ago. Needless to say, he was growling viciously at the man standing before him, ready to attack. Wormtail, however, merely looked at him as if he were confronting a flubberworm.
He chuckled and stuck out his hand-the one made out of silver, that Voldemort had given him-and a bright flash of blinding light zoomed and hit Sirius, flinging him back several feet. He landed painfully, slamming against a tree truck. After a flash of blue light, he was staring at Wormtail through human eyes, which were now screwed up in anger. His lip was bleeding, which was visible now that he had changed.
"Murderer," he muttered through heaving breaths.
"Why did you come here, Sirius? Thinking you could save someone, be a hero? Well you couldn't save them sixteen years ago, and you can't do anything now." Wormtail was walking closer and closer to him, with an uncharacteristic pride.
"You're confident now, are you? Last time I saw you, you were nothing but a pathetic, disgusting rat. You were begging Harry for your life."
"And the boy was foolish enough to give it to me," he sneered.
Sirius was staring at him intensely and muttered to himself, " I'm about to fix that." He whipped out his wand but Wormtail was too quick, because he had his hand. He yelled, "Expelliarmus," and Sirius's wand flew out of his hand. Another flash of light and he was flung against the tree again, the impact causing several branches and leaves to fall to the ground. His back in agony, and not being able to think clearly, he decided to go for brute strength. He changed into a dog again and lunged toward Wormtail, who had an astonished look on his face but after another flash, he was changed back. But a human Sirius wasn't that less of a threat. He punched Wormtail on the side of his face, and he was knocked unconscious.
"I could always beat you in a fistfight, Peter," he said, getting up, but then his eyes widened to the size of dinner platters. In his fight with Wormtail, he hadn't realized that the forest was steadily appearing darker, due to the rows of about ten dementors closing in on them, blocking the moonlight and freezing the surrounding air.
"No," he uttered, but the despairing glacial wave was already overtaking him.
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Harry sat there, looking at Ron, but at a total loss as what to do. Ever since the dementors had arrived, his scar was steadily aching, but he had gotten used to it almost, thinking it was only because of the dementors. But now Ron was having disturbing dreams, and given his generally happy family life, that did not usually happen. But Dumbledore's words suddenly came to him. The dementors were not letting anyone inside or outside the castle; Voldemort was free to do whatever he pleased near the school.
Suddenly a sharp jolt of pain sent him reeling to the floor and yelling in pain. Then it stopped as suddenly as it began, but his temples were still throbbing. He held his face in his hands. Ron glanced at Neville and Seamus; fortunately, both weren't awake, although Neville gave a loud snort but turned around and continued sleeping. He ran to Harry.
"He's close, I can feel it," he gasped. He was sitting on his knees, had taken off his glasses, and was kneeling his head close to the floor.
"Harry, we can't stay here and let You-Know-Who do whatever he wants!" Ron cried.
Harry raised his head, which was still in pain. He managed to say, "The castle is surrounded by dementors. There's simply too many of them. You heard Dumbledore. He said they needed at least 50 Aurors."
"Hermione! She can turn into a phoenix. She can help us get past them." Ron suggested.
Harry lowered his hand from his face, put on his glasses, and looked at him sternly. His stony expression was almost frightening. "Ron, listen to yourself. You want to put Hermione in danger? If anything happened to her, I would never forgive myself. Would you?"
Ron lowered his head and shook it. "So we're not going to do anything?" he asked. He was staring at him imploringly. Harry knew what he was thinking; Harry had faced Voldemort before many times and miraculously survived: why was he backing out now?
"Ron, listen. Everybody says that I defeated You-Know-Who many times. But most of the time I just escaped him in the nick of time. Besides, isn't that just what he's expecting? Chances are, we don't need to go looking for him: he'll probably find ME."
The disappointment in Ron's face almost heartbreaking. "Harry, what's gotten into you? You don't usually take things sitting and waiting." Harry looked at his face, which was so familiar after seven years. Harry had no family and his godfather was on the run. The only people left in the world which made his life worth living were his friends. He stared at Ron; he knew him so well that he knew the placement of every freckle, every nervous habit he had, even sometimes what he would say before he said it. He felt the same for Hermione. He was closer to them than if he was their brother. If anything would ever happen..he couldn't even bear to imagine it.
Harry leaned closer to him. The pain in his head was almost making him dizzy, but he spoke each word slowly and clearly. "I don't want to see you or Hermione put in danger anymore." Harry was never anyone to back down or do anything cowardly. But right now his emerald eyes had never been so sincere . He wanted to go out and fight-- more than anything else. But every time him and his friends escaped from Voldemort, it seemed more and more as if they wouldn't be so lucky next time. He had a tendency to lose people close to him in his life. Ron knew that he probably would not be able to endure it again. Ron opened his mouth, but wasn't able to say anything. Harry said, "Go to sleep, Ron. You just had a nightmare."
"But your scar-"
"Damn that! I said forget it." Harry climbed back in bed and roughly pulled the covers over him. Ron just stood transfixed in his place, looking after him.
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Eve fell to her knees, pain coursing with her blood all throughout her body. She felt as if an enormous weight was pressing against her chest, not letting her breathe. Her hands were red and sticky with blood-her own. She was becoming lightheaded with the loss of blood. She gazed up at her father, the shiny knife still dripping scarlet. He was just standing in front of her, staring. He was going to stand there and watch her die.
"You bastard," she heaved, her eyes shiny with tears. The figure was silent. Before he stabbed her, her anger had been steadily rising, like water coming to a boil. Then she had been thrown into a numb shock, and it took her a few seconds to fully realize what he had done. Now she was seething with fury, which was spreading through her like poison. If she was going to die, she would do it gaining revenge. She stretched out her hand and let the full extent of her anger rush through her fingers. A beam of red light flashed, but he was ready: he held out his wand and blocked it with a blue beam. Eve, however, was stronger : she was fighting with the last ounce of her strength, determined to make this the last thing she ever does. She forced her spell even further, and a blinding white light flashed with the intensity of a small explosion. He stumbled backward, and she didn't know if he was hurt. But the spell had completely drained her of any energy she had, and she collapsed onto the earth, the grass staining scarlet.
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Sirius was yelling in despair now. The dementors were feet away from him, but he could see nothing but flashbacks. Scenes played through his head like a movie on fast forward. He saw Godric's Hollow, Lily and James' house in ruins, Harry as a baby crying, in that awful moment, like Sirius, seeming to realize that he'd be alone in the world, the ghastly Dark Mark flashing green against the inky sky. He remembered realizing how horribly wrong he had been about Peter.Then he saw the bodies, and he crumpled in anguish.
One of the dementors was about to lower its hood, to give him the fatal kiss. He was going to die drowning in his despised memories; he didn't want it to end like this. Then a voice seemed to halt everything.
"No. We need to take him to the Dark Lord. He may want him for something." It was Wormtail. He had regained consciousness. His eye was bleeding and a magnificent purple bruise was spreading across the entire side of his face. But he was standing and holding Sirius's wand, along with his own, although he didn't need any of them. The dementors desisted, and Wormtail made a set of iron shackles appear out of nowhere, closing in on Sirius's wrists. He stretched out his hand and forced him to stand up.
"Go back and stand guard against the castle. Dumbledore might have even sent him as a diversion." (Athough he himself doubted that, knowing Sirius). The dementors obeyed, and slowly made their way back. One remained, and went with them deeper into the forest, which had suddenly grown eerily silent.
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Eve lay on the ground, the smell of grass and blood invading her senses, which were otherwise blurred. She was breathing very slowly, agonizing that she would die in the middle of a forest, freezing due to loss of blood; but most of all, that was going to be all alone.
She was expecting to drift slowly away into some inky darkness, but she felt her vision becoming clearer. She was even feeling her strength coming back to her. Was she delirious? She managed to get up, and even though her chest was still throbbing, the pain had subsided. She wiped her hair out of her eyes, wet with the dew of grass, and threw back her cloak, darkened and sticky with blood. She saw the enormous stain in the middle of her shirt, still bright red. Her hands were covered in blood. But when she raised her shirt, there was no wound.
"Yes. The one thing which I have worked my entire life to gain, that I have made the purpose of all my experiments, you were born with: Immortality. And I was the one who gave it to you."
His sharp, slightly amused voice made her turn around. She was breathing heavily, as if she had been running. She was looking at him incredulously.
"Don't believe me? Perhaps I should show you again," he said, pleased.
She held up her hand, "No," she said, apparently convinced. Her mind was swimming back into focus. She remembered that day in Snape's class. the basilisk venom touching her skin, and yet not harming her.With a pang she remembered the expression on Harry's face when he saw her fall.
"Well, child? I have just told you that you are unable to die, and you have nothing to say?" His voice became harsh.
Eve became angry again. "What? You just stabbed me with a knife! Do you expect me to be thrilled? To run into your arms thanking you?"
He merely said, "One who does not show gratitude is not loyal."
" You didn't do any benevolent favor to me. You merely did it to gain immortality yourself. There is always a natural balance to things. For example, good is balanced by evil. So there cannot be only one immortal being; there must be two, to keep that balance."
"So you know more about magic than I thought," he replied.
"I also know that I will not be subjugated by you. You don't want a groveling daughter, do you?" she said, her voice hardening.
"Certainly not," he said, his voice rising even higher with pleasure. Then a rustling of leaves and snapping of twigs under feet made them both turn. It was Wormtail, and towering behind him was a dementor. Eve lowered her head, trying to push the screaming and crashing noises she heard the last day she had been in her own house.
In between them was Sirius, walking, in shackles, as if he was being moved against his will. He looked extremely weary. The dark circles under his eyes were twice their size. When he saw Eve, her clothes covered in blood, he turned even more pale, yet more animated. "Good God!" he yelled, and he leaped towards her, but the dementor merely put a scabbed hand on his shoulder, and he fell back, weakened.
Voldemort looked at him, but he did not look back. Sirius was even more amazed at Harry, who had been able to face him year after year since he was eleven.
"Sirius Black. Godfather to one of my enemies. Sometimes I feel insulted that people even believed that you could have been one of my followers." He motioned to Eve. "I wonder if you have met my daughter. She is unharmed, but that will be all the worse for you."
Wormtail was eyeing her warily, and with great dislike. "Master, I wouldn't trust her if I were you." He turned to him.
"I am thankful every day I am nothing like you, Wormtail."
Wormtail answered quickly. "She is in league with Black. The dementors informed me that yesterday she went past them, carrying him, saying he was dead. She saved him, Master." He finished with a satisfied smile. Sirius looked terrified. The cloaked figure turned towards Eve.
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After looking at Harry disbelievingly for a few minutes, Ron finally, although grudgingly, crawled back into bed. But right after he did, a white flash from outside illuminated the room for an instant, followed by a roar like thunder. Both he and Harry raised their heads.
"What was that?"
"I don't know, but I'm going to find out." Ron leapt out of bed, but Harry, whose reflexes had been sharper due to Quidditch, was in front of the door before him.
"Ron," he began, but Ron had his wand already raised.
"Stupefy!" he shouted, and Harry fell to the floor, unconscious. Ron looked after him sadly. "I'm sorry, mate." He grabbed Harry's Invisibility cloak and went out the door.
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Sirius was looking at Eve. She seemed completely unruffled, even though she was in the company of a dementor and the most evil living wizard in the world. Her eyes, however, revealed otherwise. When she saw Sirius, she looked shocked for an instant, and for a wild second he thought she dropped something she was holding in her hand; but she quickly recovered herself. She was now looking coolly at Wormtail, but was gazing at Sirius from the corner of her eye.
"Wormtail, is it? You must be more stupid than I thought," she replied. " I saved him only because Dumbledore specifically instructed me to do so. If I didn't he would be suspicious of me." Wormtail backed down somewhat, but he did not look satisfied.
"It is alright. It is a good thing you brought Black to me, alive. Another flash of foresight I would not have expected. If you are unconvinced, then she will now prove herself." He turned to Eve. "Kill him," he hissed.
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Harry felt himself being shaken awake. He blinked his eyes, but his vision was still blurry. "Harry, Harry!" a familiar voice was calling his name, and for a split second he thought he was dreaming. Then he felt someone straighten his hair out of his eyes and put on his glasses. He blinked again and saw who it was: Hermione.
"Harry! What happened? Where's Ron?" She was very worried. Harry sat up, rubbing his back where he had fallen, looking at Hermione as if he STILL thought he was dreaming.
"What are you doing here?"
Hermione looked frustrated. "Are you blind?"
Harry smiled. "My optometrist says I almost am."
She became even more ruffled. " Didn't you see that big flash of light? It took me a while to get to the tower, trying not to make any noise, but I came here to see if you guys were doing anything about it. I knew you guys would leave without me. Ron would want to protect me and all, but you know what I can turn into. I'm going to help you."
"Did I miss something? Was someone handing out hero pills? Why do all my friends suddenly have death wishes?"
Hermione looked at him sternly. "Where's Ron?"
Then another voice with a faint Irish accent came from one of the beds in the corner. "Harry probably got rid of him so you two can have an illicit make out session in peace." It was Seamus, with a huge grin plastered on his face. "Tsk, tsk, Hermione. You being Head Girl and all, and sneaking into boy's dormitories late in the night." Hermione made a shocked noise, and was about to protest when she saw the amused look on Harry's face. He had realized how the situation looked. Here was Hermione, in his dorm room at an ungodly hour, with Ron missing, and Harry flushed and lying on the floor with her sitting on top of him. She looked down at him, turned so red that it was even visible in the semi-darkness, and got off Harry.
Harry smirked. "That's right, Seamus, and if you say anything, I'll beat you to death with a shovel."
Seamus grinned even wider. "Don't worry, your secret's safe with me." Then he blinked and raised an eyebrow. " A shovel?"
"Yeah. Now go back to sleep."
"I can't. You two are loud enough to drown out even Neville snoring." Harry made an exasperated noise and hastily grabbed his school robes and led Hermione out to the Gryffindor Common Room. With the colored moonlight streaming into the wide stained-glass windows he could see that she was already fully dressed.
He turned serious and whispered to Hermione. " Ron saw that flash, too. He went to see what's going on, and because he thought I wasn't going to let him go, he hit me with a Stunning Spell and apparently, left with my cloak."
Hermione was listening to this with her mouth slightly open in shock. "Is he mad? He'll get killed!"
Harry looked grim. "Yeah. I guess we have no choice but to go after the great prat." He rummaged through his pockets. "He didn't even bother to take this." He held out the Marauder's Map, which used to belong to his father, Sirius, Lupin, and Wormtail, when they were still friends.
"Harry! We can see where Ron is," Hermione said, and they both looked at the map, which showed the whole school. Sure enough, they saw a dot labeled "Ronald Weasley" in none other than Eve's room. With a sigh, Hermione was relieved (although guiltily so) that he was alone.
"What's he doing there? Where's Eve?" Harry asked. He scanned the map and gaped when he saw the Forbidden Forest. In the middle of it, he saw four dots: Eve Riddle, Peter Pettigrew, and (Hermione gasped when she saw it) Tom Riddle. And in the middle of it all stood a dot labeled Sirius Black.
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When Ron first walked out of the dormitory with Harry's cloak over his head, he was spurred on with the adrenaline rush of finally doing something that might have an important effect. However, as he walked out of the Gryffindor Common Room, (with the Fat Lady in the portrait guarding the entrance giving him an annoyed look at waking her up), his feelings of bravery somewhat diminished. Even Harry did not want to go with him this time. He had never felt so alone, and worst of all, he hadn't had the faintest idea of what to do. He realized that he forgot to take the Marauder's Map, but he didn't want to go back: Harry might have woken up. If he saw where he was and came after him, that was fine. He paused to think where to go. He thought perhaps a good starting point would be to go see Eve. She was getting strange mysterious letters which were no doubt about her father. She might have an idea of what's going on, and although he realized he would look awfully stupid waking her up in the middle of the night and asking her about flashes of light, he couldn't come up with a better plan. He only hoped she wouldn't be too angry with him and turn him into a toad.
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Sirius could do nothing but stare in shock. "Kill him," Voldemort repeated when he saw that Eve had not moved. She was staring straight at Sirius, her face frozen, but her eyes intense. They kept on flicking towards the ground. Sirius glanced towards his feet and stopped himself from stepping back in startlement. He saw a twig which was about a few inches long. What startled him was that it was silently, but unmistakably moving. It was rolling towards him, its little branches sticking at angles and making it look as if it were an insect.
Eve spoke out loud. "All right, father," she emphasized the last word, and raised her hand towards Sirius. He felt the familiar ripple of panic, then heard Eve's sharp voice in his head: 'Pick it up!' He didn't need to be told twice. Just as a white flash of light left her fingers, he swiftly bent over and picked up the twig. And disappeared.
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A/N: I know! I know! You're wondering " What about the KISS???" This chapter ended up waaay longer than expected, so it'll be in the NEXT chapter, I promise!!! (Don't hurt me!!j/k) Trust me, it'll be worth the wait!!