Authors note: Thank you to my two reviewers for reading this and I hope you enjoy the new chapter. Chapter 3 will be up by monday fate provoiding. Sorry about not having it up tonight and I apologise for any mistakes in chapter are purely my fault for not saving the edits providied by my fanatisic Beta-Reader. This is the Teen chapter, so readers beware, this is the chapter that made me think this is abit adult for some younger Harry Potter readers and hence give it a 'teen' rating. so for readers everywhere thank you and Goodbye.
Chapter 2 – Night of the Death Eaters
Andrew awoke suddenly.
Something was wrong as he glanced at his unusually bright alarm clock which told the room the time was 11:36 PM. He sat there for a few seconds listening and felt something odd, It was quiet, far too quiet. He stood up off the bed and glanced towards the window.
"A power cut?" he wondered aloud but, that didn't make sense, his alarm clock was electric. Then why were all the street lights out? It was completely impossible to see anything outside; he couldn't even see the tall pine tree a couple of feet from his window.
As he stood there, wondering what to do, he heard a voice. The voice was female and it came as what sounded like a hiss. Andrew strained to hear what was being said or where it had come from. More voices came, some louder and all were hissing.
A light shone from the street below. It was an oddly disquieting light, there were many figures shifting around, like flies to a flame. As Andrew's eyes adjusted to the small light down below, he could work out a hulking figure holding the light that Andrew could only presume to be a sparkler; it was the only thing Andrew could relate to it being.
The crowd of human flies moved on and the hissing grew quieter, Andrew stood there frozen, what were these people doing outside at this time of night in complete darkness with their on form of light being a sparkler?
Andrew stood there, debating with himself and then slowly and quietly made his way across the room to his door, pulling clothes on along the way. He reached his door and a reckless daring ceased him and he turned the handle.
It was locked.
Andrew shook off his tiredness and sighed to himself as he unlocked the door. He had done it to prevent his mother coming in unannounced. Amanda on the other hand was impervious to locks, Somehow if she wanted to get somewhere or get something she it get it. Even it meant unlocking doors without keys or getting to place nobody else could reach. It was the only thing he ever gave Amanda credit for, she was incredible resourceful for a nine year old.
Andrew on the other hand wasn't one to be outdone by a nine year old with the brain of a five year old; 17 years of training under his mother's rule had probably turned him into the stealthiest person on the planet. He also had a Sense as it were to know exactly where to hide to avoid detection and how to get there in a flash. A talent he would need tonight no doubt.
The upstairs corridor was as dark as the street outside but, Andrew could walk it eyes closed anyway and within seconds he was walking quietly down the stairs. He lingered here for a couple of seconds for no reason other than instinct. He then crossed towards the kitchen door and using a trick he had learnt when he was Amanda's mental age opened it without sound.
'Nothing' thought Andrew worried as he crossed into the kitchen. His thoughts were filled with paranoia now, he couldn't see the man with the sparkler had he imagined it. 'No' he thought, it was still pitch-black outside.
He lingered there for what felt like 5 minutes and still not a sound. 'It was nothing' went cursing through Andrew's mind. Then it was filled with other unhelpful thoughts such as 'maybe it wasn't a sparkler after all' or it was merely some drunken crowd leaving town, it couldn't be anything sinister.
As the last of Andrew's resolve to keep watch diminished and he turned away, he saw a flash of some unknown colour fill the kitchen. Looking around wildly the only conceivable place he could think of was through the window. A light coming on in the Granger's upstairs window confirmed that.
The effect that one light had on the street was dazzling, it was still dark but, not dark enough to hide the figures running towards the Granger's front door.
Andrew froze and nearly yelled, more lights along the Granger's upstairs window came on. As Andrew watched in shock, one of the black shadows lifted up a barely visible stick-like object and with a nod of recognition to the sparkler from early.
What happened next told Andrew, that the stick-like object was certainly not a sparkler.
A blast of red light came from the leading figure's stick and with an audible bang could only mean the Granger's front door had been smashed inwards. He heard voices upstairs and as he stood there paralyzed looking out the window, a flash of blue came flying through his mind.
He jumped at the old phone and almost broke it punching in '999', as he held up the receiver to his mouth he heard a very despair-inducing sound or rather no sound whatsoever. Only the 'click-click-click' sound that told him no dial tone. Andrew cursed as he hammered the phone down and tried again. Still nothing. What the hell?
He heard banging on the stairs; Mrs. Edwards was coming down. He needed to make a decision now, he could stay here and at least try to explain to her but, that would take too long and the odds of her believing him were a thousand to one anyway. His other choice however, well that was the more dangerous one but, at least he might be able to do something.
As he heard mother take the last 3 steps, it was now or never. As pressed his hand against the window he knew this hesitation was costing him in the long run. Every second that passed…
Suddenly, Andrew's soul was pierced, as if a bucket of ice was thrown at him. He staggered and felt himself unfocused for a second. It had been a scream from next door. Then with all the determination in the world shot out of the kitchen knocking his mother over on the way out. Andrew nearly kicked the front door open and sped out into night leaving a startled and shaken mother behind.
Andrew's sped through the darkness over the tall grey-bricked wall that separated the two houses. He was running fast than he had ever done before all the while his mind going over the same thing. The scream, that terrible, terrible scream he had heard in the kitchen. Nothing in his life and prepared him for the amount of agony and hurt in it and perhaps worse of all, the scream had been young, female, it must be the summer girl.
Andrew rushed towards the front of Grangers homely detached house, it looked like the kind of standard house you get with three year olds drawings. One door in the center and two windows on the bottom floor and two windows on the top, Andrew knew that the house looked exactly the same from the back and had only one window on each side of the house. Aside from that the house couldn't be any more plainer than it was already.
Andrew paused at the front door and at once his stomach clenched, the bang had been audible enough but, seeing the damage up close gave Andrew a turn. The door was split in two, as if it had been hit with a battering ram. Who were these people that could do this?
As he took his first cautious step into the granger's house, he stepped in something cold. Andrew nearly shut down in fear but, as he examined closer he realized it was freezing water. 'What the hell?' Went through Andrew's head again.
More cautious then ever, he waded through the flooded room towards the stair's directly opposite the front door. Slowly he peered up the stairs and then stopped dead as a figure swept past the top of the stairs followed by a swish. The hallway-light was also shining down on him from the top of the stairs.
After a few seconds of lingering Andrew moved on and as he reached the foot of the stairs, he moved one foot in front and then got hit by another nasty shock and fell face first onto the stairs.
Dazed and stupefied he came round to that soul-penetrating scream again. It was so loud he thought his head would burst, what the hell were they doing to her?
Suddenly he felt his entire body went numb, as he had twisted to stand up he had to face what he had tripped over. Bobbing up and down at the foot of the stars, staring blankly at the ceiling was Mr. Granger.
He's dead, Andrew told himself, He's dead. Andrew threw all sort of insults for coming over here, he was in a house with murderers. Half of Andrew wanted to scream and running sobbing from the house. The other half however, wanted to help whoever was screaming. Whatever was happening up there, Andrew never ever wanted to experience it and Andrew never wanted to hear or see any suffer it either.
Andrew advanced up the stairs almost dragging himself up there, he wasn't disturbed about making a noise. The pain-filled horror-filled screaming was loud enough for Andrew to be walking up these steps carrying a sound system playing at full volume.
Dragged on to the top of the stairs by the screaming (which was growing loud every second it seemed). Andrew staggered, his vision blurred onto the long hall way. Gazing slowly into the distance a door stood half-open at the end of the hallway and it was also the source of the furious screaming.
Now, Andrew's body was staggering slowly towards the room, the pain, the screams, the mind-numb plain terror surrounding and encompassing him all telling his body to withdraw but, it continued. Every step felt like an hour, every movement closer the screaming became even worse and painful. Andrew stood, his head spinning, the room wobbling in and out of focus and changing colour.
With great surprise and forbearance Andrew reached the door and slowly pushed it open as the door creaked to a halt and Andrew had terrible view of the room in front of him. The screaming died to be replaced with heavy breathing.
7 Hooded people wearing cloaks surrounded the bed and in the dim light of the room, Their hoods were white with slits for eye-holes all faced the bed holding the sticks toward the center cuddling herself on the bed.
"Hermione" Said Andrew but, no words left his mouth as he stared wide-eyed at the horror in front of him.
"So Mrs. Granger," came a bark-like voice "Any last words, maybe for your dear friend?"
No response came from the shivering curled up ball on the bed.
"Mrs. Granger," came a sly voice which Andrew felt dislike for immediately "Answer the question as you so often feel the need to?"
"s-ss—" came a whimper
The room fell silent, everyone strained to hear her.
"s—sssna, snape," she whimpered
The group roared with terrible laughter and Andrew felt himself shake with absolute terror and revulsion the men in the room.
"snape," she whimpered "You killed him, snape, you killed them too, snape, you killed him and be—" she began to sob quietly
The laughter had died immediately, all masks turned to at one standing to the right of the bed. Andrew saw him clench his wand and then,
"Yes Mrs. Granger," The sound of mocking coming from under that mask "That's right, I killed him."
"Why?" The whimper was even quieter now and even more filled with nothing but terror.
"Why?" Came an uncertain reply and then a mad laugh and the voice still filled with laughter came the word "Cruico"
For 5 seconds, Andrew watched in shock and awe, then quiet suddenly as if something had seized up inside him, felt himself fall against the wall and terribly sick. He couldn't do anything to prevent it, the screaming was louder in his ears now more than ever. Still shaking and nauseated, he clambered to his feet supporting himself against the wall. The screaming was so loud, they hadn't noticed the boy by the door.
As he breathed heavily, he heard the word cruico shouted, screeched or whispered by all participations. 'Stop it' began to repeat in Andrew's head, getting louder and louder as the screaming didn't disappear …
Andrew's mind collapsed. He simply couldn't take anymore and without a thought in the world he pounded into the room and his fist collided with the back of the head of the one mask-men near to him.
It took Andrew several seconds to awaken to the fact the screaming had stopped or that all hoods were now upon him, or he was still pounding one of these masked men, slowly one of them raised their sticks up to point at him. He hit the wall with a thunderous bang, and slid down it.
He looked up. All masked faces were looking at him at the front most, with a red tinge to his mask was the one he had attacked and then as he dimly forgot and remembered he was doing here, he noticed something else.
The summer girl had raised her head abit, her eyes full of sorrow and then slowly she raised her hand. She was holding one of those sticks, and was pointing it directly at the blurry figure that was moving towards him.
Somehow, and he would never know why, he knew what he had to do. Slowly he shook his head. Her eyes widened and then the corner of her lips moved forming a thin smile. Some long distance memory came to Andrew and he smiled too.
"Where's my wand!" came the yell of the bleeding masked man and with some shock he realized this person was about the same age as him.
All the Masked Men shot looks around the room and the room was suddenly filled with furious yells and shouts and flashes. Before any of these however, there had been a faint pop noise and Andrew smiled again. Somehow the summer girl was gone, safe and as the Masked Men roared with fury and turned to face him alls Andrew could do was smile at them