Chapter 2
Miles away, sitting at her desk in Professor Xavier's Institute for Gifted Youngsters, Ororo Munroe calmly sipped her coffee. With feet propped up on the table, she stretched languidly, loosening the knotted muscles in her shoulders and back and sighed a small sigh of relief. Logan and Scott had been at it yet again, but given they weren't trying to kill each other (too much) she had let the scene play out and now the both of them were off sulking like elementary kids in their respective hideaways. The tall woman gingerly brushed a lock of snow-white hair behind her ear before standing to refill her beloved mug. Technically she was a doctor – and caffeine is exactly what she was prescribing herself.
Setting a brisk pace, Ororo, more commonly known as Storm for obvious reasons, strode across the room intending for the glorious coffee maker that was currently the love of her life. However she never quite reached her destination having been disrupted by a rapidly blinking light on one of the plasma screens, so intent was she on getting her daily dose of black goodness that she would have missed the commotion altogether if the blinking was not also accompanied by the most irritating electrical whine. Throwing her hands up in frustration and giving the coffee machine one more yearning look, she made her way to the computer that was demanding her attention.
'God – they're like children at the best of times.'
However all signs of annoyance disappeared as what she saw penetrated the fuzziness in her head to register in her mind.
"Great, and the day gets better." Storm roughly ran a hand through silken hair and darted out of the room, all thoughts of coffee forgotten to be replaced by an urgent need to find a certain Professor.
Professor Xavier, headmaster of this special institute for gifted youngsters, was relaxing over tea in his personal library. The room was silent but for the occasional clinking of china as he and his companion, one lovely lady named Jean, continued their mental discussion. Shooting rapid facts and jabs at each other, the crinkling in the corner of eyes and the slight tilt of the lips showed the two's obvious enjoyment.
This comfortable silence was disturbed however when Storm, well, stormed in. Straightening Professor Xavier turned a curious eye upon the intruder while Jean, tossing back a head full of hair the colour of autumn leaves stood and greeted the tall woman.
Brows drawn at the ruffled appearance of the normally so poised woman, Jean began to speak only to be cut off mid-sentence by Ororo.
"Storm, is-"
"Professor, Jean" A curt nod of the head to each.
"Something's just shown up on the mutant detector. Something big."
"The updated one to show both active and awakening power?"
"The very same. And just for your information, some major power has just come into play according to the D-5."
"Professor?"
The man spoken to cocked his head, a brief look of concentration crossing his face before he responded.
"I must admit that my mind was rather occupied for a good half an hr before you came Storm. I've just checked for any odd occurrences or new sources of mutant power but did not come across anything unusual. Should we perhaps head to the labs and see?"
Fifteen minutes later found a frustrated Ororo, a sympathetic Jean and a confused Professor all sitting in the laboratory facing a large silent screen which at that moment showed no signs of blink-age.
"I swear I saw it! It was right here!" Storm growled, stabbing an accusing finger over a dull spot over North America.
Having reached the labs, the exotic woman with chocolate skin and white hair had led them straight to D-5. However, upon reaching the machine, she noted the lack of whining and blinking. Frowning with growing frustration she had crosschecked all alerts over the northern hemisphere within the past hour but still did not find the one that had drawn her alert and attention. Having Jean pat her sympathetically on the back with that look in her eyes certainly did not improve her mood. Said woman, at that moment, had finally decided to stopped shooting Storm worried looks and was now eyeing the overused coffee mug with suspicion.
"Storm…" She began.
"No. I was not hallucinating."
"That wasn't what I was about to say."
Storm raised a delicate eyebrow.
"Well not in those exact words… But perhaps you should get some rest instead of running on caffeine? I know the updating is taking its toll on you, and I also know for a fact you haven't slept much, if at all, in the past week."
The eyebrow dropped and the tall woman narrowed her eyes.
"I know what I saw."
Jean sighed and looked to the Professor for help.
Professor Xavier himself looked torn over the situation. From what he knew of the exotic woman, she was a trustworthy and reliable source, but given the situation and the fact they couldn't find a single thing to confirm what Ororo had suggested concerning the 'power' she had detected and the fact he himself couldn't trace anything different or unusual in mutant activity…from the view of things the fence looked a most luxurious place to sit on.
"Perhaps something will turn up later dear Storm. In meantime Jean will continue to keep a look out and you will find some rest you've been neglecting."
Storm looked like she was going to argue but then her shoulders slumped and with a weary sigh she turned.
"Alright Professor, you know best. Jean I trust you'll not take advantage of my baby" A pointed look at the coffee machine in the corner. "And I suggest you stay clear of that boyfriend of yours and Logan for a while yet."
With that Ororo swept out of the room. Maybe Jean was right, perhaps it was time to get reacquainted with her pillow.
Half way across the world in the records department of the Ministry of Magic, a thick volume loosened itself from its spot on the shelf and floated calmly down to settle upon an antique mahogany table. Once in place, the pages of the magnificent book began to turn rapidly until it finally reached a destined page and the flipping slowed to a halt. Unbeknownst to anyone, a similar process was taking place in the old crevice hidden behind the headmaster's office at Hogwarts, the famous school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The book that held the names of all magical children due to be enrolled at Hogwarts opened and stopped at a page in the P section, simultaneously both books emitted a quiet glow before a name was erased from the records and Harry Potter ceased to exist in the wizarding world.
Hard cool bullets of rain fell consistently impacting on a small still form sprawled out across the grassy field. Occasionally electric blue lightening lit up the stormy sky overhead to be followed by the low rumbles of thunder, overlaying the sounds of the weather was the dull electric hum of the power lines that ran as far as the eye could see.
Small tongue darting out to taste the refreshing life giving rain, the wakening boy was overcome by an intense lapse of confusion as he struggled to recall where he was and how he came to be here. Attempting to move into a sitting position, Harry immediately regretted the rashness of his actions as he fell back down in shock and pain. Gasping for air, he felt an intense pressure as his lungs expanded and contracted with each breath he took. The confusion he had originally felt now multiplied ten-fold, as new questions concerning the state of his body flooded his mind. Clenching and un-clenching his fists experimentally before moving to test the condition of the rest of his body, the green-eyed boy found everything in rusty, but working order. His muscles were as stiff as board like one would expect from long periods of neglect. Or perhaps a better analogy would be a piece of frozen gum (why anyone would want to freeze gum was beyond him, but that was not the point) not yet warmed up with usage. Instead of bending with fluid motion, any movement at all was stiff and brought him a step closer to the breaking point. That summed up the feel of his body in a nutshell; Harry Potter was one giant piece of frozen gum.
It was not long before Harry started trembling as he felt the cold seep into his bones. In a way, he supposed, uncontrollable shivering was exactly what he needed right now. With a little luck his muscles will be warmed up enough for him to attempt to move around again soon. For the moment however, the boy settled into the muddy imprint he had made on the soft ground, mind blank with coldness he let the violent shudders overtake his body.
He didn't know how long it was before he woke again. The sky still wept but the rain now fell in soft splatters compared to the fierce and constant onslaught like before. Body aching as if he had just completed a hundred triathlons all in row, Harry Potter struggled to blink his weary eyes open. His mind was still a jumble of confused thoughts, but he somehow knew, instinctively, that he had been abandoned, cast away like trash on a sidewalk. However this was not the place nor time to sort out the mess inside his head, in fact, if he didn't get himself out of this weather, he would die of pneumonia first before he even gets a chance to sort himself out. Movement this time around was still a mighty pain in the ass, but it was on a tolerable level. With green eyes that were narrowed in concentration and blazing determination, the boy half limped, half dragged himself towards the shelter of the forest that lay just beyond the rise of the hill.
Step. Drag. Step.
A cycle of automated movement that led him closer to his destination.
Step.
Snap.
The lack of squelching mud underfoot to be replaced by the sharp snapping of dead leaves and twigs brought the boy out of his stupor as he looked around in a daze to observe his surroundings. No longer was he directly exposed to the biting wind that chilled him to the bone, that effect was now somewhat negated by the tall rising pines of the forest. Breathing a small sigh of relief, the boy continued, seeking out a place to collapse once more.
Twelve and quarter minutes later, although it seemed much longer to the limping boy, he finally came across the first thing that remotely resembled a shelter. Harry stood, eyes glazed with exhaustion, in front of the gaping mouth of a rocky formation at the side of a steep hill. Curtains of water had been running down the front, partially obscuring the entrance, in fact, if he hadn't been so used to viewing everything through a veil of water, he would have missed it altogether. But luck was apparently on his side for once and he walked through the shower (not that it bothered him since he was completely saturated anyhow) to find himself in a spacious cavern. The lighting was not the greatest, and the greyness of the world outside certainly did not help matters. The boy squinted, taking a few uncertain steps forward and stopped.
Wolves
A pack of wolves
A pack of wolves that had noticed the intruder (namely himself).
A strangled laughter reached Harry's ears, and after a few moments he realised it came from him. Oh how life loved its practical jokes, after all the effort of making it from nowhere to somewhere that was still nowhere but better than the nowhere from before, he was going to become dinner and be devoured and die anyway. At that moment, hope died in those brilliant emerald eyes, like light snuffed out of a candle. Everything suddenly became too much and the boy felt darkness creeping in at the sides of his vision. Lowering himself to the ground he huddled, trembling, in a foetal position.
"Go ahead, eat me. At least I'll be of some use in the form of food and energy." He whispered bitterly.
The soft padding of paws, a wet nose at his cheek and a low grumbling bark like laughter.
"You're a bit scrawny for my tastes. And by the look of you, probably bad for my health anyhow."
As consciousness finally slipped away from him, Harry's last thought was one of warmth and talking wolves.
A/N: Yes, I'm still alive (barely). Who knew bloody uni could be so damn stressful? Well I suppose its my own damn fault for skipping first year.. but you know the drill - reviews equal update (especially now).