Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or anything in affiliation with the series.
A/N: New update! Charlie finally makes an apparence. And another key character makes an apparence, one you may not have thought about. Yum! It's looking good guys, i'm all excited. Just finish writing it. So, thanks to all my reviews for reviewing. Don't forget to review again!
End of Chapter 2: Hiding
"If one is caught, he must not reveal us all. If one befalls the clutches of the dark, we must continue on into the light."
Angelina froze in the middle of what she was doing (along with everyone else) and just stood there. Everyone knew of the code, but no one had uttered it for some many years they've been traveling together. Angelina turned towards the center of the cave where young Elisa stood, staring back at everyone. She didn't look threatening or malicious; she simply stood there. Angelina didn't know what to say, but before anyone could say anything, a blur of color came rushing into the center to stand by Elisa.
"What the bloody HELL is everyone still doing here?" Jerry screamed, looking wildly around. "I can see Dementors in the distance, sucking away at the air in the far east." He looked around at the shocked faces.
"Run!"
The Strength In The Wild
By Crzyangelchic
Chapter 3: Forgotten
It took about half a second before everyone started to react as one. Within a blink of an eye, everyone was heading towards the outlet of the cave, and total chaos had erupted. Backpacks that had never quite made it over the shoulder of their owners lay forgotten and scattered along the floor of the cave. Evidence that there had been fugitives hiding out in the cave was everywhere and no one cared. Everyone's mind was on one thing alone: survival.
But Angelina, leader to her group of outcasts, kept it together just a fraction of a bit more.
"Keep to the branches of the forests!" she shouted after them. "Head towards the cave, don't look back." And as she finished shouting she realized the cave was practically empty and it was only she and Alan left.
He didn't say anything, and although it had only taken seconds for everyone to have emptied the cave, she knew they didn't have time to just stand around and look at each other.
"Go, Alan," she half whispered urgently, for he looked as if he was intending to stand there all day and just look at her.
The expression on his face, one that had been of confusion, fear, and yearning, now turned to one of determination.
Angelina knew where this was going. "Dammit, Alan. Go!" she yelled at him. She pushed him towards the mouth of the cave. "You know the Tail has to stay behind the group and look out for danger from—"
"Lina be serious!" he shouted back. "We know there's danger out there now. I'm not leaving you behind. You'd never leave one of us…and I'm not leaving you."
Angelina was startled by his outburst. Alan never acted like this. He grabbed her hand, pulling her with him out of the cave. "But the code..." she answered back meekly.
"Damn the code to…oh shit."
Angelina had barely heard him curse either, but at this time, it was justified. Upon leaving the cave Angelina was immediately hit by the evil chill that swamped the atmosphere. Like a fog, the sense of evil and sorrow was everywhere, but no where specifically. Looking to the east, they could see the darkness that literally swallowed the trees of the forest and the hooded figures that stalked the area, moving fast towards them. Angelina jerked forward.
It was dark and blurry. Cold and painful.
She had offered him everything, even her mother's precious jewelries, and he had laughed in her face.
She could still hear him laughing. Everywhere but no where. Laughing as he hurt her.
It was so dark, so blurry, was she sitting up or lying down? Was she even alive? But there was the pain, excruciating and sharp. And always the laughter. She felt like time was stopping…and she was falling. She couldn't even scream.
NOoo!
Without even knowing, Angelina was running.
Her shock left her abruptly and all her senses came rushing back on her at once. She was aware of her heart racing, her back sweating, her feet pumping, and her hand held tightly as she was urged to go faster. She stumbled.
"Li? Li…get up. Come on!"
She knew that voice, but was afraid. All the voices in her head were starting to blend together and it was nauseating in their confusion. She was back in his arms again. He wouldn't stop laughing. Laughing at her pain.
"Stop, you bastard! I'll kill you!"
Angelina pulled away as the chill and darkness swept over her again. The laughing got louder, but the other voice was still there.
"Li, let's go! We have to hide. …deeper in the woods."
She was being pulled again; she was barely keeping up. He just wouldn't let go of her hand, but she couldn't fight him anymore. She just concentrated on staying on her feet, wishing she could clear her mind like a technique she was sure she had read back in Hogwarts one time. But she couldn't clear the darkness, the cold, or the laughter…
- - - - - - - -
His apparition landed him a mere six inches in front of the back door in the darkness. There was no light from the house to illuminate his path nor did the stars or moon provide any glow. The overcast that plagued the skies in the daytime concealed the nighttime brightness as well. He slipped inside.
He was swallowed by darkness again and as he whispered the locking spell, his whispers and the resounding click seemed to echo eerily. It was as empty inside as his heart. And equally as dark.
He stood in the darkness breathing deep. It always took a lot out of him to make the apparition to this house. This house that he had grown up in. Then it had been in splendor and extravagance; it had told stories of the generations of pure blood wizards that passed along its heritage to their progenies. It was supposed to eventually be Draco's house. He knew that. Now it lay in degradation and despair, falling prey to years of neglect from the harshness of The War and the evilness that was the result of Voldemort's victory.
Draco couldn't say he liked the house better now, but he had hated it while he was growing up. Although he would've never allowed his classmates to hear him, he admitted now that the times he spent at Hogwarts were the best times of his life, Dumbledore and all.
Now, his life was old, used up. All twenty-four years of him felt battered and tired. Working alongside the Dark Lord was tiresome. Living within the smog of evil and sin was abusing.
Draco walked to the window on the far side of the room he was in. He hadn't lit his wand but he knew where he was going. Bypassing the old, dusty furniture lying concealed in the dark, he made his way to the window and peered through its drapes.
The meeting would start soon.
Since the death of his father (who had not died courageously fighting in the War against Good, but in the bed of a lover after she poisoned him and stole his money), Draco had moved along ranks to be almost the very right hand man of Lord Voldemort. But the position tormented him. For years he harbored no other thoughts than to take down his master.
Some say he had gone sick in the head, a result of the untimely death of his mother, the humility of the death of his father, and watching his Malfoy name and fortune being destroyed by The War. But this seemed to help him in his duty for the Dark Lord for Draco's works were almost as vile and evil as Voldemort's himself. In truth, though, the evilness of Britain stifled him. And so he waited.
As the first cloaked figure in black apparated into sight, Draco moved away from the window and pulled out his wand. The meeting would begin soon.
And Draco knew it as an important one.
----------------------
It was dark. But a different kind of darkness. Angelina laid there for a while, letting her senses come back to her gradually.
Well, she was lying down, she reasoned, so at least they had stopped running.
They. Who were 'they'? It had been so confusing; her hallucinations mixing with her reality. Most of the time she couldn't tell if she was being pulled away from danger, or drawn into it.
She was aware of her breathing next. It was rattled and wheezing. Her throat was parched but that was the least of her discomfort. Her muscles ached, she felt bruised and cut. And she had a full and aching bladder.
But she was warm. This was partially due to the rough animal-skin blanket that was thrown over her. But more importantly, the unnatural chill that had crept into her after exiting the cave was gone.
The cave. She wasn't in the cave, and the group wasn't with her. Only Alan. But where was Alan? She couldn't see him. Had he decided to follow The Code after all?
She opened her eyes.
At first it made no difference because the darkness was the same, but then her pupils adjusted. She could make out shapes and silhouettes. Tree branches and leaves with just a hint of the starry sky peaking through were what she eventually recognized. Living in the wild for eight years did that to you: animalistic, basic—essential.
She went to raise herself on her elbows and her hand brushed against something. Leaning towards it, she realized it was the remains of a fire. It hadn't been large or strong, she suspected, but either way, it was completely out now. She raised herself to a sitting position to get a better look at her surroundings. She took in the dirt floor, the tree branches and leaves that almost acted as a roof, and the stone walls, which were only distinguishable by the darker shadowing they emitted in the darkness. She was in another cave, deep, deep inside she suspected. She was just starting to think she was utterly alone when a moan made her jump.
"Alan…" Looking over her left shoulder she finally saw the only other shape that stood out against the floor and walls. A lump lay not many feet away, turning over in its sleep. She dragged herself and blanket over to him, her leg muscles refusing to ease their aching, and turned him onto his back. He was in a deep sleep and didn't wake at her touch.
Although she couldn't see detail, he looked peaceful when he was asleep, and she let herself breathe a deep breath of relief. She leaned down and dropped a kiss on his forehead. He still didn't wake.
He had saved her. She knows he did. The escape, the Dementors, the horrible hallucinations, the snow…it all came back to her now. It had started to snow while she was running with Alan. She had been confused about who he was and where they were going, but she had been so numb that she had stopped fighting.
Right now though, he looked anything but threatening. He looked peaceful, really, and innocent. And inviting. She grabbed the blanket and threw it over them as best as she could. Without a second thought, Angelina cuddled up next to him and fell asleep.
- - - - - - - - - - -
The dragon raced through the plains, getting its much desired exercise and more importantly, freedom. Charlie sat on a rock, chewing a stalk of grass and admiring the tough, rubbery hide of the dragon as the sun's ray skated across it. They were in an open field of wild grass and small bushes with the snowcapped mountains framing the background against a descending sun. It was like one of those muggle post cards he had bought once and sent to the twins just for kicks.
"Wish you were here…" he whispered before blocking away the images of deaths and funerals.
He tossed the stalk of grass away. He stood up on the rock he had previously been relaxing on for the past two hours and pulled out his wand. The dragon had run away this morning; the eighth time in her short three and a half years. But Charlie had been taking care of dragons almost half his life and he knew three year old "babies" as his team called them, could be dangerously precocious and almost 10 feet tall.
Still he hesitated in bringing her back. It wasn't that he was afraid. He was sturdy and broad, the muscles of his chest and arms laying truth to his strength. And he was also quick on his feet and an excellent flyer. No, he wasn't afraid, but he couldn't have worked with dragons so long without fully appreciating what beautiful animals they were. This one obviously loved the mountains and open fields, always running away to pastures that provided an abundance of both. Charlie whistled. And it sure was pretty here, especially in the decreasing sunlight. He figured he could give her another 15 minutes of fun.
He sat back down on the rock, laughing to himself that he had gotten up at least three other times in the past 2 hours claiming to "bring her in". He just really loved the mountains, open plains, and sun as much as she did. Which is why he had stayed in Romania. He had stayed away from Britain and its war. He had left them there all to die.
Yes, it was peaceful out there with the dragon, the plains, and the mountains. A person was able to think, and Charlie was an excellent thinker. Despite his calm, friendly nature, he battled demons of his own. Demons, he admitted, that he still wasn't ready to face.
Shaking his head to get the last of the depressing thoughts out, he looked out towards the field to see that the dragon had gone on a dead sprint towards the foot of the mountain.
"Oh, no you don't." And within the next moment Charlie was flying after her.
Luckily, he had decided to bring his broom, though baby dragons didn't normally need such high security. But now, thankfully, he raced towards her in the air, drawing close enough to hear her angered breathing and a torrent of screams.
This couldn't be good. Swooping down, he spotted her long tail just around a bend. He almost flew smack into her when he discovered a small group of people cowering in her path. She stomped her feet angrily and shot fire 10 feet into the air. The young woman in the front looked as if she might faint.
Thinking fast, he threw a fire-shielding curse towards the small group of three, sheltering them from harm—for now. They could still be trampled.
The dragon stomped her feet angrily and swung around to see who had done the spell. Charlie moved back out of range just as she let out an obligatory breath of fire.
"Well, hello to you too, Shelly" Charlie said laughing.
She let out three more bursts of fire which Charlie dodged easily. He sat there, laughing into the air as she eyed him in frustration. He knew she recognized him, he had brought her back many times to the conservation.
"Are you quite done now?"
In answer Shelly let out another bolt of fire, then flapped her young wings and hung her head low, breathing hard and never keeping her eyes off of his suspended form. Charlie took it back; these babies really weren't all that bad.
He was just about to conjure a magical binding chain around her neck to discourage any further use of her fire and strength, she was small enough for it to work, but a burst of red light flew from the side of the mountain and hit her side. She roared in pain and stumbled a little, her young hide not hard enough to withstand a stunning spell.
"Don't fire!" he screamed. They would only upset her. It was too late.
Shelly roared in anger, looking around for where the offensive spell had come from. Not seeing anyone now, she took to the air flying further into the mountains.
"Oh, damn," Charlie said whistling, "She's gonna throw a tantrum."
Shelly threw a natural, dragon borne tantrum. Knowing where this would lead, Charlie drew in the magical boundaries that kept the dragons from leaving the conservation and into truly dangerous territory. And then he took off.
He was once a Hogwarts Quidditch seeker, and even considered going pro. Now his speed and agility carried him through the air, following his dragoness as she wailed out her anger.
She flew along the insides of the mountain, racing north towards a break in the rocks she must have discovered at another time. She turned to go through but was bounced back. She went at it again, by that time Charlie had caught up again and had constructed a magical binding rope. As she hit the boundary again, this time she got a shock.
"Sorry, girly, you can't go—ahh!"
A bolt of fire shot right over his head. Then two more shot towards his broom, the last catching his boot on fire. He put it out with his wand.
"Wow, they've got you all worked up. Just calm down," he instructed. He kept talking to her as he fixed a lasso onto the end of the rope and made to simply throw it towards her; the magic would do the rest.
Her yellow slit eyes watched him forming the rope, and she breathe one more burst of fire, which he dodged easily, and took off back to where the people had been.
He knew he had caught her now. Leaning forward unto his broom so that he was practically lying on it, he raced along side her and threw the rope just as he could hear the people screaming again. The rope magicked itself around her throat and wrapped around her body, wings plastered to her side.
She fell hard on the ground, thrashing and struggling against the magic. He landed smoothly next to her and walked towards her. She still fought against the ropes that were slowly sucking away her strength. Each angry breath she took emitted jets of steam towards him.
"Its all over now, Shell, just relax," he said coming close enough to touch her. She continued watching him with distrust in her pale, yellow slits.
"I'm sorry, babe" he whispered, just as her eyes closed and her breathing calmed down.
He stared at her for a second longer and then, without turning around asked aloud, "Who let off the stunner?"
The surrounding mountain sides seemed to come alive. People appeared from behind large rocks, from behind bushes, and caves. They all came sheepishly forward so that when Charlie did turn around, he was faced with a small crowd of people of about a dozen or so. He stood his ground watching them. They looked ragged and tired. They seemed remarkably destitute and looked nothing like the wizards he worked with back at camp. He figured they were muggle mountain people that he had once heard tales about. When he finally spotted a small little man with balding hair clutching a wand, his first thought was to get this weapon from him.
"Expelliarmus."
The wand shot into the air and landed in Charlie's waiting hands. A gasp went around the group and they all made to run again.
"No, wait. Please. I won't hurt you." He tucked both wands into his pocket and held up both hands. They stopped their retreat and looked back at him. "You can't shoot a spell at a dragon. Trust me, it will only get worse." He wondered if they really understood what he was talking about. He tried to smile at them, but his broad and towering figure coupled with his ragged dirty clothes from chasing the dragon didn't put him in a good light.
He still saw the fear in their eyes and caught them keeping watch on the wands tucked into his pants. He gave up trying to coax them.
"Where did you find this wand?" He pulled the wand back out, looking at it. It didn't look much different from his.
They continued staring at him in fear.
"Well?" he asked a little more strongly.
"Pl…please, sir. We need help," came a small voice. The young woman that uttered it was the same that had been so very frightened of the dragon.
"It's ok. I want to help you." Charlie quickly counted the group and figured his camp could accommodate ten more people. "What happened? How did you get here?"
The story came out in a rush, each person coming forward to add a little bit to the tale. They had been living in the mountains surrounding Britain but had almost gotten caught by an attack of Dementors. Running for their lives, they had tried to head towards another cave for shelter but then the snow had started. Blinded and in fear, they stumbled into a thick forest that led deeper and deeper into the mountains, pass their desired cave. They had hidden in a deep thicket of trees for a day and then had wanted to start looking for a new place to reside. They were delayed a couple hours and had just started to head back towards the cave when someone came upon a wand, fallen and forgotten on the ground. They argued over what to use it for and with the struggle for each of them to cast a spell, the wand did something weird and let out a bolt of silver-ish light. The spell seemed to open a portal and they were sucked into a blur of wind and color. They landed at these mountains and had begun arguing over who cast the spell when the dragon came to them. The rest of the story Charlie knew.
So they were wizards, Charlie realized. They were the wizards rumored to be hiding out in the Britain mountain side away from the evil that had taken over their country. Charlie knew they desperately needed help.
Charlie looked at them again, malnourished, battered, and bruised.
"Were there any others with you?" he asked.
There was an immediate silence. This seemed odd to him, but he couldn't quite see why. It seemed they took a long time to answer but at last the young woman came forward again.
"There are none but us" she said, somewhat eerily.
He stared at the group again and noticed some of them weren't looking into his eyes.
"Well, then, if there's no one else…" he paused again, but no one said anything. "I'll take you back to my camp where there's food and water."
He led them around the dragon, which the group made sure to stay clear of. Charlie knew she's be out for another couple hours at least. He used his wand to send a silent signal to some of the ani-med wizards back at camp. They would come and collect the dragon. And with his new band of followers, Charlie made his way back to the conservation.
Thousands of miles away two forgotten members lay deep in the thicket of the forest looking for their group.
A/N: What do you think? Please review!
A/N2: Looking for a beta if anyone's interested. Or if not, I'll just continue trying to revise it myself if no one minds too much.
