Smoke streamed through the ruins of the manor, rising to blot out the stars. Blackness, ash, and despair were all that remained of the once-proud building, its elaborately carved ebony doorframes and eves burnt to charcoal.
Rigella stood on the rise, silhouetted against the midnight sky, staring down at the desolation. This was where her family had lived for three generations, untouched, unchanged. It had been a refuge for witches and wizards with nowhere else to turn, as well as her home.
She could see it, in her mind, see it as it had been. She could see the tall, elegant ebony framework, with its silver inlay, the white plaster of the walls. The cobbled paths that wound their way between flowerbeds, with daffodils and daisies, hyacinths, bluebells and rose petals spilling onto the soft green grass. The children and chickens that darted about underfoot, and adults smiling as they passed.
Peace. Freedom. Serenity. But now it was gone. All their hopes, their dreams, destroyed in one moment of spite, one second of pure hate and malice. Smoke and unshed tears stung her eyes. How many? She wondered how many died here tonight? How many died for their freedom? In her heart, though, she knew she alone had survived. Against all odds he had found them, and she was all that was left. Her parents, her brothers… the memory of that insane laughter, the screams and flashes of light would haunt her all her life.
She took a deep breath, scanning the ruins for the last time, and turned away, burying her tear streaked face in the snowy mane of the shining white horse at her side. She knew what she must do now, knew where she had to go- England, her great-uncle, the school.
Aia flicked her tail and snorted, rubbing her slender muzzle against Rigella's arm. Rigella lifted her head and stroked the horse's nose.
"Aia," she whispered, "you are all the hope I have left."
Return to Hogwarts"I tell you, this is the best part of the whole damn trip," Sirius Black informed his friends as he opened one of the many bags of food in his lap. "If it weren't for Chocolate Frogs and Cauldron Cakes, I'd just fly to school every year."
James Potter, Sirius' best friend, grinned at him from the other side of the compartment and ruffled his already-messy black hair.
"So the only reason you come back year after year is to feed your face, is it, Sirius?" James grinned again and put on a slightly offended voice. "And I thought you actually liked us!"
Sirius returned his smile and threw a Pumpkin Pasty at him.
"That might be a part of it…but after the World Cup and that incident regarding my pyjamas, I'm not entirely sure… I mean, there's something decidedly uncool about having a best friend who turns your PJs into Snitches and then spends half an hour in hysterics - while you run around the campsite wearing nothing but a towel trying to catch them - instead of helping you!"
"Oh, come on, Siri, it was funny!"
"Yeah, funny… like the time we had group detention with Snape? And he threw dung at you?" Sirius sneered at him. "Funny my arse."
James had gone slightly green at the memory. But the mention of that particular detention usually turned the conversation from discussion to argument. James opened his mouth, but before he could speak, the potential conflict was interrupted by a voice from the corner of the compartment.
Remus Lupin had at last emerged from the depths of the enormous book resting on his lap. Of a height with James, Remus had golden-brown eyes and his light-brown hair was showing a few flecks of premature grey. He shut Mediaeval Muggles with a snap and looked at them irritatedly.
"If you two insist on having yet another pointless discussion, find somewhere else to do it. Otherwise, shut up and let me read." Remus was not in the mood for more nonsense. It was two days since the full moon, and as usual, he was exhausted. After listening to James and Sirius arguing about Quidditch and Peter whining like a two-year-old for the past two hours, his nerves were about to give way.
James shut his mouth, his brown eyes darting rapidly from Remus to Sirius. Sirius, however, grinned confidently at Remus and his blue eyes sparkled as he ran a hand through his long black hair.
"Awww, c'mon Moony, lighten up! Pull your nose out of that book and have something to eat." Sirius threw Remus a bag of food.
Sirius began to suck absent mindedly on a Pepper Imp. He knew better than to be too worried about Remus. Back in their first year, he would have been confused and concerned by his friend's behavior, but since the discovery of what happened to Remus every month, he was not surprised. It was only two days since the full moon, and transforming into a Werewolf was enough to fray anyone's nerves. Moony was always dead on his feet for a few days afterwards. All he needed was to get to Hogwarts, eat something and get some sleep.
For a few minutes, the compartment was silent, except for the sounds of contented munching and rustling paper bags.
"Hey, what are these?" shrilled Peter Pettigrew. He was small, round and rather ratlike in appearance, with thin blonde hair and a whining voice. Sirius looked at Peter, who was holding up a small, puffy thing in one hand. It was light brown and looked like some kind of oddly shaped biscuit.
"They're called Fortune Cookies," stated Remus. Everyone looked at him. "Muggles love them. Look, you eat the brown part and there's a piece of parchment inside"- he bit into one and removed the slip- "with your fortune on it. See?"
The boys were fascinated by this concept and the next few minutes were spent devouring the cookies as they read out their fortunes.
"This can't be right, it says the full moon brings good luck, but that's the worst time of the month…"
"Mine says something about counting chickens…"
"Damn, apparently I'll get a negative answer to an important question soon," said James, brow furrowed.
"Oooh, I wonder what that means!?" squeaked Peter excitedly, bouncing on his seat as he tried to peer over James' shoulder at the parchment.
Sirius sniggered. "What d'you think, Peter? It means Lily'll turn him down again. Didn't need a biscuit to tell us that, though, did we?"
James began pelting him with Berti Bott's Every Flavor Beans. "What does yours say, Sirius?"
Sirius looked down at the tiny scrap of parchment in his hand.
"Nothing," he said quickly.
Too quickly, he realized. A grin spread over James' face and Sirius knew he should have made something up.
He hadn't noticed the wand in James' hand until he heard James cry "Accio!" and the parchment flew out of his hand.
James smirked at him.
"Love will find you before the year is out," he read, his smirk growing. Peter sniggered at Sirius and even Remus smiled.
Sirius wanted to scream.
