Author's note: Only 2 reviews after 3 chapters??? (cries) I feel so unloved!!!! And I'm not going to be posting for a few weeks. I'm going to a bunch of places for the summer. I'll try to get on my relative's computers, though!
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Simple as that.
Secrets in the Shadows
Chapter 4: Breaking Out
{{{{}}}}"Natasha?" Lia said, frightened. "Natasha, what's happening to you?"
She saw it happening, but she couldn't stop it. Lia backed away as her friend screamed, writhing and twisting in pain as she transformed. Suddenly, a low growl emitted from her mouth. Lia started to run. She followed on her four paws, howling as she went.
Lia slowed. A branch snapped. Lia whipped around...facing the black monster, its fangs gleaming in the moonlight.
"Natasha! NO!" she screamed as the monster slashed at her with three-inch claws. The girl, hidden deep inside the beast, mentally screamed at herself to stop. She could see the wounds on her friend's face. Blood was dripping freely from them. But the animal, now free to do what it pleased, was attracted to the smell and sight of human blood.
Knowing what was going to happen next, the girl tried with all her might to stop herself, to run away. It was no use. The predator, with its jaws open wide, bit down on its victim's neck with fatal vigor. Lia struggled, but in a few seconds, fell limp.
The werewolf then devoured its prey, howling hauntingly...
Haylie woke up, her thin body covered in sweat, her face covered in tears. This nightmare was not uncommon to her. It was her worst memory coming back to haunt her.
She silently pushed back the curtains of her four-poster and grabbed her wand.
"Oculta" she whispered, pointing to herself with her wand. Soft green light emitted from it. Suddenly, she felt a cold sensation. She looked down. She was transparent. Satisfied, she then walked quietly out of the girl's dorm room.
As she made her way across the common room, she stepped on a piece of parchment. She picked it up and read it. It was someone's Potions homework. She tucked it into her pocket, just in case a house-elf came up and thought it was trash. She climbed out of the portrait hole, with the Fat Lady squawking "Who's that? Who's there?"
Haylie said nothing, just walked on, happy to take a stroll about the castle, unheeded.
Wandering around the fourth floor, she decided to go to her favorite place...the Room of Requirement. She thought hard of some place that she could sleep in for a few hours. A place that would have a Dream-less sleeping draught. It was Saturday night, so she didn't have to worry about the girls in her dorm getting suspicious when they see her empty bed.
As Haylie concentrated hard on her wish, she saw a door appear out of nowhere.
Smiling with relief, she put her hand on the door-knob...
"Oof!" a disembodied voice exclaimed as it bumped into Haylie. "What the...?"
Haylie drew a sharp intake of breath when the person whipped off a cloak. It was Harry Potter.
"Who's there?" he said quietly, his wand out and ready. Haylie pointed her wand at herself, and whispered, "Atluco." She became visible. Harry jumped back, saying, "Lumos!" as he did to see who the stranger was.
"Haylie? What are you doing here?" Harry asked. Haylie stared at him with an annoyed look. She didn't want to be disturbed.
"I wanted to go for a stroll," she told him. "I couldn't sleep."
"I know how you feel," he replied. He waited for her to say something. She didn't, so he said, "I'll be going..." and walked off.
Having those training sessions, eh, Harry? she thought as she waited for his footsteps to die away. Poor guy. He's been through enough already...
She then entered the Room of Requirement. A large four-poster stood at one end of the somewhat small room. On the bedside table was the sleeping draught she wished for. A lamp in the far corner cast the room in a soft shadow. Haylie walked up to the bed and sat down. She picked up the vial of potion and drank it down. In seconds she felt extremely drowsy, and she drifted off to sleep.
{{{{}}}}
The next morning, at around 6:00 A.M., Haylie woke up and left the Room of Requirement, somewhat refreshed, but still upset from the nightmare that night.
When she got to the Gryffindor common room, she sat down on one of the armchairs, watching the smoldering fire, thinking. A few people started to come down also, either carrying a book to read or some homework. One of them was Hermione Granger.
Remembering the parchment she found the other night, she got out of the chair and walked over to Hermione, who was sitting in another armchair across the room, writing furiously.
"Hermione?" she said softly. Hermione looked up. She looked a little surprised to see her.
"Yes?" she asked. Haylie pulled out the parchment and handed it to Hermione.
"Is that yours?" she asked. Hermione studied it. "I found it lying on the floor last night in here."
"No, but I recognize the handwriting," she replied. "It's one of my friends'. I'll give it to him when he wakes up." Haylie nodded and walked back to her armchair. Bored, she pulled out her wand and conjured a pencil and a pad of paper. She started drawing. When she was half way though a drawing of a hippogriff, Haylie saw Ron and Harry walk out of the boys' dorm.
"Ron!" she heard Hermione call. "I have something of yours."
"What?" he replied, walking over to her.
"It's your Potions homework," she said, handing the parchment to Ron. "Haylie Damon found it lying on the floor. You need to more careful with your homework, you know. A house-elf could have thought it was rubbish and thrown it away."
"Yah, yah," he mumbled, stuffing it in his pocket. He yawned. "Well, I'm hungry. Harry and I are going down to breakfast. Are you coming?"
"Yes, just a minute while I put my homework away in its proper place," she said obviously. Haylie saw Ron roll his eyes. She grinned. Usual Ron and Hermione behavior.
Haylie, feeling her stomach growl, decided to go down to breakfast, too. She climbed out of the portrait hole and started walking toward the Great Hall.
"Haylie!" a voice called from behind her. She turned around and saw Harry, Ron, and Hermione jogging up to her. It was Hermione who spoke.
"Yah?" she said in her subtle voice.
"Do you want to sit with us at breakfast?" Hermione asked. Haylie, taken aback by this comment, hesitated. No one had ever asked her to sit with them. They usually just ignored her, and she was used to it. Now she had a chance to make friends her age, for once in a long time.
But she wasn't really sure about this. She had stayed in the shadows for a reason...
Oh, what the heck? Nothing can go wrong here, she thought.
"Sure," she told them. Haylie followed the trio to the Great Hall, where they sat near the middle. Some people were already eating. As Haylie took a boiled egg and some bread and put it on her plate, Harry decided to strike up a conversation.
"I saw the notice today," he said. "It looks like you're the new Beater."
"Yah," she replied, keeping her eyes away from his. "Yah, I saw that, too. I'm pretty excited."
There was an uncomfortable silence.
Alright Haylie, she said to herself. You can do it...Talk about how Harry's a good Seeker, how Ron's a good Keeper, or about the World Cup...something about Quidditch! It's time to break out of your shell and make some friends, girl!
She hesitated, dealing out the pros and cons. Finally, she made up her mind.
"I've seen your brothers play," she told Ron, actually making eye-contact. "I highly doubt that I can live up to their standards." She laughed a little. Ron and Harry seemed taken aback from her sudden change in social attitude. Hermione grinned, as though it was she who made Haylie crack.
"Er...yah," Ron replied. "But you're really good, too, you know!"
"Yah, I guess," she replied, shrugging. "Hey, I heard that they set up a joke shop. Is that true?"
"Y-yes," he said, still staring at her questioningly. "They're making a lot of money off of it."
"The Ministry actually let a couple of seventeen-year-olds run a business?" she said, raising an eyebrow.
"Yah...well, they would have finished school by then if they didn't quit last year," Ron explained, forgetting his curiosity. Haylie grinned.
"I remember that," she said. "Oh, that was so cool how they just up and left! Right in front of that idiot Professor Umbridge, too."
She stopped right there, realizing she was talking a little too much. Hermione saw this and quickly covered for her.
"Harry, how was the...?" She cut off when Harry gave her a stern look. "The...uh...homework schedule I gave you coming along?" she finished hastily.
"Fine," he replied, glancing quickly in Haylie's direction. But they didn't need to lie. She already knew about the training sessions. She knew a lot about Harry that he probably didn't want her to know.