I just had to continue with this fic for now. I'm becoming more and more confident in it the more I work on it. Also, I've had the end of this chapter planned for almost two years, and I really wanted to work up to it. So here is chapter two.
Title: Fireheart
Rating: M (for future violence, language, and adult situations)
Pairings: Eventual Draco/Harry (yes, SLASH), eventual Ron/Hermione; others pending
Disclaimer: There is no way in any shape or form that I own Harry Potter. The credit should be given to one J.K. Rowling. The only thing I own is the plot.
"And Potter, Weasley?" Snape added as he turned to write on the board. The two boys raised their eyes hesitantly to look to the front of the room. "Detention for three weeks starting next Monday."
The silence of the room was broken by two groans and a loud thud as two heads hit the table simultaneously.
Fireheart
Chapter 2: A Prophecy Fulfilled
"I cannot believe this," Harry hissed, slamming his cauldron down onto the desk with unnecessary force. "Snape is such a git. We didn't actually hex Malfoy or anything. I only punched him, but that doesn't deserve such a punishment. If the slimy prat had walked in on Malfoy disemboweling the two of us with a potion ladle, he wouldn't have given him three weeks detention. In fact, he probably would have stood there and cheered him on." Ron snorted in amusement, though his face was distorted into somewhat of a grimace that came as a result of Harry's descriptiveness.
"I'll go get the ingredients for the potion," he muttered before slipping away toward the students' potion store cupboard. He was only in there for a moment before there was a loud crash from within that caused half the class to jump in fright. A yell of rage immediately followed.
"Weasley! Just what the devil do you think you are doing?" Snape was standing in the doorway to the store cupboard, his face twisted in fury. Harry turned away from his professor's direction, not wanting to look at him any longer; his anger toward the man would only increase. However, a movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention, and he looked toward the front of the classroom.
Draco was putting his wand back into his robes. He was facing the store cupboard with a smirk on his face, looking immensely pleased with himself. Harry's teeth ground together when he realized what must have happened. He gripped the edge of his desk in front of him so hard that the aged wood splintered a little beneath his fingernails. The stomping of feet, however, brought him from his plotting of a way to get Malfoy and Snape shipped off to Antarctica, as well as signaled Ron's arrival.
"This is utter madness!" Ron ground out after falling into his seat. Harry looked up, only to see that his friend was covered in various potion ingredients. "I don't know what happened! I was reaching for what we needed when all of a sudden all of the shelves collapsed, sending ingredients everywhere. And now we'll have to replenish his stock during some of our detentions. That means being stuck in the Forbidden Forest for hours on end, in the dark." He shuddered at the thought, but his expression remained angry. "And what happened to your hands?" he added, his eyes now on Harry's hands, which had just released their death grip on the desk.
"It's nothing," Harry muttered, hiding his bleeding fingers from sight. "I was just being stupid. And it was Malfoy that got you into trouble." He spat out the name as if trying to get rid of a disgusting taste, his gaze sliding in the blond boy's direction for a moment. Draco was now putting on a face of innocence. He was taking diligent notes and paying rapt attention to the professor, who was going over the properties of the potion they were meant to be working on, which happened to be Veritaserum. Leave it to Snape to set a difficult assignment on the very first day of the year.
"Of course!" Ron hissed. He moved his chair back as if to get up, but Harry stopped him. The last thing they needed was an additional punishment from Snape. Ron seemed to realize this as he slumped back into his chair, but his anger didn't abate.
"Snape's also making us take a failing grade for this assignment. Most of the ingredients were ruined, so there was almost nothing left to use. We have to write an essay on it instead. And because hardly anything is left, that means lectures for every class until there's enough to make potions again. I'm sure he could get them himself, but no. He has to make things more difficult for everyone. What I wouldn't give to..." Ron trailed off, pounding his fist onto the table and made a grinding motion. Harry snickered appreciatively, picturing doing just that to Snape's greasy head.
"It's a pity that we're not able to make the potion," he muttered. "It would have been interesting to see the outcome of putting it into both Snape's and Malfoy's goblets and doing some extensive questi-"
"Potter! Weasley! Pay attention!"
Almost as soon as Harry, Ron, and Hermione left the Potions classroom, they were stopped by a fourth year Ravenclaw. She handed Harry a roll of parchment addressed to him and Ron.
"It's from Dumbledore," he stated after unrolling it. "He would like us to meet him in his office after our next class. Snape must have taken no time in informing him about what happened."
"You can't say that you don't deserve what you got because -"
"Please drop it, Hermione," Ron grumbled, hitching his bag onto his shoulder. "We're going to get all the admonishing we need from Dumbledore. We don't need you to lecture us too." The three of them made their way down the crowded corridor.
"Well, let's hope Professor Dumbledore will knock some sense into those thick heads of yours," Hermione retorted, giving each of them a hard prod in the back of their skulls. "I'll be sure to prepare a nice long lecture that neither of you will forget just in case."
"Don't worry, Hermione," Harry said, taking in her stern expression. It was times like this when she greatly reminded him of Mrs. Weasley. "Dumbledore has a way with persuading people, even when he's not trying. I'm sure that when we return from his office, we'll both be entirely sorry for what we did and we will never want to misbehave ever again." Hermione rolled her eyes.
"Let's just get to Charms," she sighed, shaking her head as she walked ahead of her chuckling companions. "I want to see what Professor Flitwick has planned for his N.E.W.T. curriculum." It was now the other two's turn to roll their eyes as the three of them swept up the staircase to the entrance hall.
"That was a very interesting lesson," Hermione said happily at the end of the class. "That Rain Charm seems very useful, especially during a dry period. It's a good way to keep plants from dying, even if the charm only covers a small area. Wouldn't you agree?"
"Speak for yourself," Ron mumbled, wringing out his wet robes, Harry doing likewise. Hermione heaved an irritated sigh, drew her wand, and did a complicated wave. Warm air emerged from the tip, causing their robes to steam and eventually dry.
"Well, if you and Harry had paid attention, you both wouldn't have done the wrong wand movements, thus drenching yourselves," she retorted, one hand placed on her hip, the other still holding her wand toward them.
"Thank you for pointing that out, Hermione, but we should head off," Harry said. "We shouldn't keep Dumbledore waiting." Hermione merely glared at him and stalked away. Harry then proceeded to grab Ron by the neck of his robes and drag him in the direction of the headmaster's office.
Once the two of them appeared in front of the gargoyle, Harry gave it the password Dumbledore had given him in the note. The gargoyle moved aside to reveal a spiraling set of steps, which both of them took up to the large oak door that led into the circular office.
"Come in," a deep voice rang out after Harry knocked. He opened the door and slipped inside, Ron right behind him. Professor Dumbledore was seated behind his desk, glancing at them with his hands folded on top of a pile of parchment. "Please, sit down," he said, motioning toward the two chairs in front of him before getting to his feet. The two Gryffindors did as they were told, looking somewhat apprehensive.
"Professor Snape has informed me of what happened this morning before your Potions lesson," the headmaster began, "and I must say that I am disappointed in the both of you. This is not the time to keep such strong animosity going; I am sure you are aware of what the Sorting hat sang to us last night. This is a time where we must come together and help each other stop Voldemort from gaining more power and conquering us all. Now, can one of you tell me exactly what happened?"
As the last word left Dumbledore's mouth, Ron opened his mouth immediately. Harry stomped on his foot as discretely as he could with Dumbledore standing right in front of them. He didn't want Ron saying anything stupid or something that could get them into further trouble.
"It started with Malfoy throwing us the usual insults," Harry stated. "He said that I didn't deserve my title as the Boy-Who-Lived, the usual rubbish." And I feel that I must agree with him there sometimes, he added to himself. "But that wasn't what really provoked us, sir. It was when he insulted Ron's family and said that he hoped I would lead them and myself into a pointless battle where we would all be killed. That was when Ron and I jumped out of our seats. I punched Malfoy, and we both drew our wands on him. That was when Professor Snape came into the classroom."
Harry then paused, casting around for something to placate a teacher who may be prepared to further discipline them for their wrongdoing, something that Hermione would say. "I feel that we were all at fault, professor. Malfoy should have kept his thoughts to himself, and Ron and I shouldn't have allowed him to get to us. It seems obvious that everyone is still...feeling the effects of what happened at the end of last term."
"Yes, I understand," Professor Dumbledore muttered quietly after a moment of silence. He glanced at Harry briefly over the rims of his glasses before taking a seat and clearing his throat. "I will tell you this, though; I feel that Professor Snape was right in giving you detention. It will allow you to see that what you did is not the answer in this kind of situation. I will still speak to Mr. Malfoy about this. I feel that he too should come to realize that now is not the time to behave this way toward other students. Everyone should come to this conclusion. And I'll let you two in on a little secret, if only just to show you how serious this is," he added, leaning forward in his chair, gazing at them intently, his blue eyes now twinkling. "This year the teachers and I are planning new and exciting ways to get the students together to create bonds between the houses. And that is all I'll be saying for now. You two may head off to lunch now. Just remember what I told you about unneeded conflicts."
"Yes, professor," Harry replied as he and Ron stood, both of them looking somewhat dumbstruck at the abrupt end of the conversation. They walked past a few tables and shelves of complicated, whirring trinkets and a dozing Fawkes on his perch on their way to the door.
"I was really hoping that he would lift the punishment, but I can see why he wants us to go through with it," Harry said as he and Ron made their way down the steps and toward the Great Hall. "I don't know how easy it will be to unite the houses; McGonagall going on a date with the giant squid seems more likely at the moment. But maybe Malfoy will finally get what's coming to him."
"Yeah," Ron replied, snickering heartily. "But what do you reckon Dumbledore meant about the teachers planning ways to get everyone to unite?"
"I don't know," Harry replied with a shrug. "Let's just hope it's not some mass academic project." They both shuddered at the thought. "But I bet Hermione would enjoy that." Ron grinned and shook his head.
As they continued on to lunch, both boys came up with additional ideas about what the headmaster was hinting about, each becoming more and more outrageous. The last one involved pairing up two students, each from different houses, and throwing one into the lake and seeing if the other would save them from drowning.
"Okay, how about this one?" Ron said. "Crabbe and Zacharias Smith."
"That's a hard one, on account of both of their heads are so large, though one literally and the other figuratively," Harry replied with a smirk. "Both seem likely to sink before the other can manage to get into the water, if they even try, that is." This sent the two of them into fits of laughter.
"What has you two looking so chipper?" Hermione questioned when they sat down at the table, her eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Are you sure you went to see Dumbledore? Neither of you are looking very contrite..."
When Harry was able to compose himself, he told her about their visit. He explained how Dumbledore said he was disappointed in he and Ron and how he explained about unity. Harry had to ensure her that they were sorry for what they did (even though he wasn't nearly as sorry as he should be), but she seemed skeptical all the same. But when he got to the part about the teachers planning something, her expression changed to one of interest.
"That's a good idea," she muttered. "I'm sure they'll figure out a good way to get people to work together. What do you suppose it is?"
At her question, Harry then launched into what he and Ron came up with. By the time he reached the bit about the lake, Ron was laughing again, and Hermione had placed a hand disbelievingly over her eyes; however, she giggled all the same.
"The way your minds work scares me sometimes," she choked out, wiping away her tears of mirth. Harry and Ron looked unabashed as they dug in to the food.
The next few weeks passed by in a blur for Harry, even with his detentions, great amounts of homework, and the first Quidditch practices of the year. Harry was glad that his ban was lifted when Umbridge left; this year would be much better with him being able to play again. He and Ron were very grateful for having Hermione as a friend; whenever they were running short on time for work, she would find it in her heart to assist them.
Whenever they could, the three friends would go visit Remus in his office or remain after class for a bit to talk to him. Harry felt more of a bond with him, seeing as how they shared a huge loss in their lives. Even though Harry was sure Lupin wouldn't want him to, the Gryffindor felt sympathy for the man. He was the only true Marauder left. When they could, they would avoid the incident that happened at the Ministry, but it still came up every once in a while. The result was reopened wounds that were reluctant to be healed. Harry still felt responsible for his Godfather's death; he felt that it was his gullibility that brought Sirius to the Ministry. All the same, Harry vowed to visit Remus more often, thinking that if they sat and talked about it, the weight would lift from them and they could move on freely.
Lessons steadily became a little more difficult as the days passed. Professor McGonagall had them do a short unit on human transfiguration. This was one of the most interesting, albeit hard, units they've done so far. Harry and Ron broke out in fits of laughter every time someone brought up Seamus' partial transformation. It was hilarious indeed to see him with rabbit ears poking through his sandy hair and fine white fur covering his face. It was still being debated, though, whether or not he had a puffy tail as well; Seamus refused to answer the question. But aside from this, lessons remained mostly the same as before.
The morning of the 26th of September dawned bright with just a hint of autumn in the air. Harry and Ron woke as the sun shined brightly through the window by Neville's bed. They stretched languidly, immediately uttering twin groans of discomfort.
"Snape is an evil sod," Ron hissed through his clenched teeth. "My muscles have been aching ever since that first detention. I hate doing manual labor."
"I know," Harry replied. "I pulled muscles I forgot I had last night. Those cauldrons must have weighed about the same as a hippogriff." A flicker of pain crossed his face as he rubbed his shoulder. "But the good thing is that after tonight, we will only have two more detentions left."
"That's if we survive until morning," Ron muttered darkly, glaring out the window at the dark trees swaying in the distance. "We're in the forest tonight. We have to collect some of those damned potion ingredients."
"The other times we went in there for him weren't that bad," Harry pointed out. Then he paused for a moment. "Well, those were during the day, but I don't see why they should be all that different. We just have to get the rest of the ingredients, some of which have to be gathered at night. But we can be glad that Dumbledore got the centaurs to join his side again, though. That man sure can persuade, can't he?" Ron nodded at this, but he didn't look all that comforted. Harry patted his friend on the shoulder in passing as he headed to the bathroom.
As he was preparing for his shower, Harry's mind wandered from tonight's detention. He instead dwelled on how he felt when he woke up this morning. Aside from the muscle pain, he also had the sensation one usually felt when they had horrible sunburn, except he felt it all over rather than in a specific area. He had had the fire dream again last night. He's been having it every night now for a week. However, this was the worst yet; the sensations were more intense than ever. He was forced to think about the corridor dreams from last year, which led him to think about Voldemort. He wouldn't be sending these dreams to Harry, would he? Voldemort couldn't be. These dreams didn't make him wake up with his scar searing in pain. It was just the rest of his body that was affected.
"I must be losing my mind," Harry muttered to himself as he stepped underneath the cold water. He then figured it must be true because he could have sworn he could see steam actually rising off of his skin where the cold water touched it.
Minutes later, Harry was leaving the dormitory with Ron, all thoughts about the dream banished from his mind as they discussed what they would be doing that day. They met Hermione in the common room, and the three of them went down to breakfast.
"I swear," Hermione muttered half way through the meal. "All you boys think about is Quidditch." She looked somewhat irritated, having not been able to concentrate on her Charms reading while the two boys across from her conversed loudly about tactics.
"Well, with Harry as captain and me as Keeper and part of the team, shouldn't we be trying to figure out ways to outdo other teams?" Ron questioned indignantly. "Besides," he added as Hermione scoffed, "that's not all we think about, right Harry?" He nudged his daydreaming friend in the ribs.
"Sorry," Harry muttered, pulling himself from his thoughts of flying his Firebolt later that day. "What else do we think about?"
"Girls!" Ron answered with a grin. He then let loose a peal of laughter as he thumped Harry on the back.
"Of course," Harry said with a slight smile as he straightened his glasses. "It's so painfully obvious that I didn't even think of that." In truth, though, he hadn't been thinking all that much about them. Ever since last year with Cho... Harry shuddered. He wasn't keen on having something like that happen again anytime soon.
"If you two are finished," Hermione cut in, looking annoyed at their childish antics, "we can go outside now. It's a nice day and it shouldn't be wasted." She stood up from her seat and swept toward the door. Harry and Ron looked at each other with a shrug before getting up to follow her.
As they reached the entrance hall, Harry was shunted roughly to the side. He looked to his right and saw that Draco and some other Slytherins had left the Great Hall as well. Draco looked back over his shoulder as his group moved toward the dungeons and leered at Harry. Before he even realized what he was doing, Harry plunged his hand into his robes for his wand and aimed it at Draco with a muttered jinx. The blond immediately tripped over thin air and sprawled on the stone floor. A few other students that were leaving the Hall chuckled at the sight.
"Potter..." Draco growled warningly, his face pink as he got to his feet. But before he could retaliate, Harry, Ron, and Hermione had already made their way out the double doors and onto the grounds.
"Why did you do that, Harry?" Hermione hissed under her breath as they walked across the lawns toward the Quidditch pitch. "You could have made things worse for yourself! What if a teacher had seen?"
"But no one else saw it except for a couple of other students," Harry replied with a shrug. "And since they were Ravenclaws, I doubt they had any problems with me using the Trip Jinx on Malfoy. But doing it made me feel better than I have in days. Doesn't that count? It was almost like seeing the ferret bounce again." Ron snorted in amusement at this, but he immediately fell silent when Hermione gave him an extremely dirty look.
"This is the problem Dumbledore keeps reminding us about, isn't it?" she snapped. "You keep attacking each other, not caring that Voldemort is mobilizing his army just outside these walls! It's just a petty rivalry that you two have going with Malfoy. There are more important things for you to be worrying about!"
"We know that, Hermione!" Harry said, an affronted look on his face. "It's just -"
"But you don't like Malfoy either, Hermione," Ron interjected, his arms crossed over his chest.
"Of course I don't! Who in their right mind would like a snotty, antagonizing git such as him? But working together doesn't exactly mean that you have to like each other!" she cried, stomping her foot irritably. "Besides, my dislike for him is different than yours. I, unlike you, have never attacked him, either physically or with magic."
"Yes you did," Ron continued. "There was that time in third -"
"That was one time!" Hermione growled. "I had a perfectly good reason to. He was insulting Hagrid, one of our dearest friends, and..." She cut herself off with a shake of her head. "Never mind, I give up. I'll see you two in a couple of hours. Hopefully you will have matured by then." With that she turned around and stalked back toward the castle, tears of frustration in her eyes.
"She'll come back around," Ron said after a moment of stunned silence as they watched their friend disappear through the doors. "Once she gets her nose stuck in a good book she'll cool off, right?"
Harry opened his mouth to tell Ron what he was thinking, but he closed it immediately; he didn't want to start a fight with him by telling Ron that it was his fault for angering Hermione further. He felt a surge of guilt, knowing it was his, Harry's, fault in the first place because he jinxed Draco, but Ron had unhinged his tongue and worsened the situation.
"Let's just go," Harry said, taking out his wand again. "Accio Firebolt!" he cried, waving it in the air. Next to him, Ron did the same thing. A moment later, Harry's Firebolt was soaring though the air toward him, alongside Ron's Cleansweep. Harry ran over and launched himself onto his broom before it was even at waist level. He soared up into the air, Ron not too far behind him.
Once up in the sky, Harry felt more free than he had in weeks. Sure, he had Quidditch practices, but that was different. He was still concentrating when it came to the game, sometimes becoming frustrated when things didn't go right. But now he was able to clear his mind as he circled the empty pitch, the cool breeze caressing his cheeks. Now all he needed was a way to relieve himself of his pent up energy and emotions.
"Hey!" Harry called out to Ron, who was swerving around the goal posts at the other end of the field. "Let's see who can get over the lake and back the fastest! Loser has to buy the winner a whole pack of Chocolate Frogs on the first Hogsmeade day!"
"That was great!" Ron exclaimed as they entered the Gryffindor common room after dinner. They didn't have much time to talk during the meal, on account of them both overindulging and having their mouths full the entire time. "You're really getting good at doing the Wronski Feint, Harry. Maybe you can use it on Malfoy during the next Gryffindor versus Slytherin game; with our luck he'd be unconscious for a month." He said the last bit under his breath with a sidelong glance at Hermione. He and Harry had apologized profusely after returning from their flight, and now she was on speaking terms with them again. It would be unwise to make such a comment in her range of hearing after just smoothing things over.
"Yeah," Harry replied with a grin. "That would be great, huh? But don't you forget; you still owe me a box of Chocolate Frogs since I won that race."
"I know," Ron muttered with a roll of his eyes. He mumbled something undistinguishable under his breath as they went up to the dormitory to put their brooms away, but Harry was pretty sure he caught 'Firebolt' and 'better broom.'
"I have a better idea," Harry said as they gathered their cloaks and dragon hide gloves and made their way back down the steps. "We can split the price. That's more fair, don't you think?" Ron became more cheerful after that.
"Be careful, you two," Hermione said from her table as they walked toward the portrait hole. "I know Hagrid is going to be standing guard nearby in case something happens, but I can't help feel a little jittery."
"We'll be fine, Hermione," Harry said consolingly. "We've been in the forest loads of times. I doubt anything will go wrong. Anyway, Hagrid is more than capable of pulling us out of a tight spot if something does happen. And we'll have our wands."
"Well, okay," she replied. "Maybe I'll see you two later, then. I might be in the Astronomy tower when you get back."
"Why would she be in the Astronomy tower?" Ron asked as they left the common room and proceeded down the corridor. Harry couldn't help but notice that his voice had an underlying suspiciousness to it. "She isn't meeting someone -"
"No, Ron," Harry replied. "Professor Sinistra told our class that anyone who wanted to use the telescopes to watch the lunar eclipse could do so. Remember?" Realization dawned on his friend's freckled face.
"Yeah, I do now," he replied, now looking a little awkward about jumping to such crazy conclusions. "Too bad we won't be able to go, though. But at least we will be able to see it from outside, right?" Harry merely shrugged noncommittally.
When they finally reached the edge of the Forbidden Forest, Hagrid was already waiting for them. He explained how he would be standing at the edge of the trees, keeping watch over them as they looked around for potion ingredients.
"An' if either one o' yeh gets inter a spot o' trouble an' the other's not around ter help, jus' fire up sparks inter the air," he added as Harry and Ron put on their gloves and made their way into the forest.
"You don't suppose anything willhappen, do you?" Ron asked quietly as they trampled through underbrush, leaving Hagrid behind.
"Let's just hope not," Harry replied as he took his wand from his pocket. "Lumos!"He took out the list Snape had given them and looked it over. A good amount of things were already crossed off. "Let's start with the easier stuff. Maybe time will go by a little faster." Ron nodded in agreement, but his face was set into a wary expression.
In a span of twenty minutes, the two of them had stumbled upon asphodel, ginger, and a couple pieces of boomslang skin. It seemed like they were starting off pretty well. Harry felt more assured of this when he saw something glittering in the moonlight at the base of a yew tree.
"Ron, look!" he hissed. The redhead looked up from the multiple leafy plants he was examining and made his way over. "I found some moonstone." He picked up a couple of the iridescent stones, eyeing the slightly bluish glow it was giving off before placing it into his cloak pocket.
"Nice one," Ron said as he crossed the ingredient off of the list. "Now all we have to find is -" He cut himself off as the patch of moonlight they were standing in grew a bit dimmer. "What -" He then looked up at the sky. "Oh. Hey, look. The eclipse is starting. I can see - Harry?" Ron's eyes had shifted from the sky to his friend after he heard Harry let out a pained gasp. He saw the other boy doubled over in pain, clutching his chest. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Harry replied. "Let's just keep going. We only have a few more items to find." Ron agreed, but he was still looking worriedly at his friend. Harry stood up straight with some difficulty and began the search once more.
In truth, Harry didn't feel fine at all. Out of nowhere, a hot pain had flared up in his chest. It was the pain he usually felt after having those fire dreams. He never experienced it at any other time during the day other than after waking up. And this time it felt a bit different. Other than being more intense than before, he felt something else. It seemed like a...pulling sensation. But it was weak.
I must be imagining things, Harry thought to himself as he shook his head to clear it of thought. He tried to focus more on what he was looking for instead.
"The moon's about half covered now," Ron said after a small amount of time passed. Harry bit his lip to keep from crying out. He could no longer ignore the feeling in his chest; it was becoming worse with each passing moment. He felt as if someone had thrown a lasso around his heart and was determined to pull it out of his chest.
"This is pretty cool," Ron muttered, his eyes still on the sky above him. "Have you seen -" He closed his mouth and slowly turned around. Apparently he had heard what Harry just did; the crack of a stick and the rustle of underbrush could be heard nearby.
"Harry..." Ron hissed, his face paling drastically as he groped for the other boy's arm. He peered through the trees, his lit wand held aloft. Something glittered at them from behind a bush; it was a pair of eyes.
"Let's get out of here," Harry whispered. He took a step backwards, his wand at the ready. Ron hastened to follow. The creature crept forward, coming their way, growling low in its throat.
"Run!" Ron groaned under his breath. He tugged at Harry's arm, and they began hurrying away from where they saw the eyes. However, they soon heard the creature lumbering after them. Ron gulped and hastened his pace. "What do you suppose it is?"
"I don't know," Harry replied, doing his best to keep up. He held his wand out with one hand, the other massaging his aching chest. In their panic, they both forgot about what Hagrid had told them. "All I know is it's not a werewolf; the moon isn't full." Still, that did little to appease them; they still had no idea what was after them. "And it's obviously fast," he added as the sound of the feet grew nearer. He glanced back quickly and aimed his wand over his shoulder. "Impedimenta!"
The sound of pounding feet stopped. But neither one of the boys slowed down; they didn't know how long the jinx would hold on the beast, whatever it may be. They continued running through the trees.
After a few minutes, Ron began pulling ahead of Harry. Harry felt as if his heart was going to burst out of his chest. He reached out to grasp Ron's cloak sleeve, intent on asking him to help him do something about the pain, but it was just out of his reach. And just as he opened his mouth to call out to the other boy, his foot caught on something under the fallen leaves. Harry fell to the ground, a hiss of pain escaping his lips when he made contact with it. He stayed there for a moment, his teeth clenched. When he looked up again, Ron was gone. A surge of uneasiness passed through Harry. Didn't his friend hear him fall? He guessed that he hadn't; maybe the noise of Ron's own pounding feet prevented him from hearing it.
With a hiss of pain, Harry unsteadily got to his feet. He glanced around briefly before turning up his collar against the chilly breeze and setting on. His mind began wandering as traveled on. The pulling in his chest grew stronger with every step. His feet seemed to be taking him somewhere of their own accord. He just wished he knew what was happening to him. Is it anything serious? Should he get help? And where was Ron? Is he okay?
Harry's self-questioning ceased when he realized he had stopped walking. He looked around; he was standing near an ancient tree, one that stood much taller than the others around it. As he was looking up, trying to see just how high it went, his gaze fell on the small sliver of moon that was left. The eclipse was almost halfway through.
His feet began moving again, the pulling in his chest even stronger now. It was as if he was literally following his heart; Harry might have found that somewhat funny if his mind weren't so foggy. He stopped again when he was right in front of the tree. It was then that he noticed a small knothole in the thick trunk. On an impulse that Harry was not sure was his own, he reached inside. In the back of his mind, Harry realized that this may not be wise, but his body seemed to be under the control of some other force; it was almost as if he were a puppet.
In the back of the knothole, Harry's hand came in contact with something. He wrapped his fingers around it and withdrew his hand. In the last of the moonlight, the Gryffindor saw that it was a rough stone of some kind. He found nothing extraordinary about it as he turned it over in his palm. Then the moonlight was gone.
As the moon became completely covered in shadow, Harry doubled over again. A new wave of pain flared up in his chest, the intensity increased tenfold. He was completely oblivious to the stone in his clenched hand changing, the rough edges chipping off to reveal something completely different underneath. The Gryffindor cried out in agony and surprise when a bright light suddenly ensconced him. In a panic, Harry realized that it was fire. But instead of it burning his skin, he felt as if magma was racing through his veins. He yelled again as the intense heat and pain he felt all over his body converged in his chest.
I'm dying, Harry thought hazily. He was vaguely aware of a figure crashing through the trees nearby and his name being called.
Then darkness took over as he collapsed to the ground.
To be continued...