Chapter 2: Really Not Normal

I was falling. No, not falling. It felt as if someone had used Wingardium Leviosa on me and was whisking me backward through a tunnel completely filled with light. Then the whisking sensation stopped abruptly and I felt myself on the ground. Not hitting it, not falling on to it, just being on it. Gingerly, I picked myself up off the ground and looked around. I wasn't on the Riddle property anymore. I was in a forest...somewhere...at night...alone...on a full moon...Wait! The full moon was two weeks ago. What the hell is going on?

I spun around, frantically searching for an answer, just in time to see a curse aimed at me. I ducked. Another curse answered the Death Eater's, who clutched his face and dropped to the ground.

"Behind you!" cried the caster. It was a man's voice, and sounded strangely familiar. But I put that out of my mind and concentrated on not getting killed. Now this next move I'd been practicing for weeks. I crouched, then spun, kicking my leg out to trip someone close to me and firing a Trip Jinx to get someone farther away. It worked. I saw the second Death Eater lose his balance and fall. Disarm and Stun, and the job is done. Hah, I'm a poet and I didn't know it. Ok, that was a bit cheesy but oh well.

"Nice move kid," said the man who fought the Death Eater. I could tell he was impressed, and not just because I was a kid either, "Where'd you learn it?"

I shrugged, "Taught myself."

It was too dark to see his face, but I saw him nod in approval, "Creative. Looks like something I'd come up with."

A dull thud sounded. We both looked around. Then the man ran and motioned me to follow. I didn't hesitate. The prospect of running into Death Eaters in these woods after challenging their master to a dual was not very appealing.

Not many steps later, we came upon a woman battling a large, blond Death Eater. My blood boiled when I saw him, remembering the lightning struck tower. He saw us as well and pointed his wand at the woman.

So peaceful. So happy. I'm floating on clouds. Hmm, I wonder if this is what marijuana is like. The Americans had to get something right.

Attack your husband. Ok, if you say so. Wait, I don't have a husband. Yes I do. But that would make me gay. No it wouldn't; if I were homosexual, I would be lesbian, which I'm not. What the hell is going on? I don't know. I don't know either; maybe if those clouds went away, I could think better. Then get rid of them. Yes, let's.

My head cleared as I shook off the curse, although I was still confused. The woman was shaking her head, much like Ron does after Fleur comes into a room. The Death Eater just looked stunned, figuratively and literally; the man had Stunned him.

"Are you alright?" He rushed over to her and looked at her with such tender affection. It was obvious that they were married, or at least engaged.

"Yes, I'm fine."

"The baby?"

"I think the baby helped me throw off the Imperius Curse. At least, there was a third person in my head," her voice trailed off in confusion. The man didn't seem to have a reply to this.

So the woman is pregnant. And she was Imperiused. And she heard a third person. And I was Imperiused. And I heard a third person. Did that Death Eater cast the curse on both of us at the same time? No, he was just as confused as us. Plus, it was more like we were one person. Like mother and child...

"Crucio!" cried yet another Death Eater who appeared. Where do they keep coming from? Right before I collapsed in pain, I heard a scream, the same scream I hear whenever I get near a dementor. Something about that scream helped forget the pain long enough to cast a Shield Charm. It didn't help me much, but it startled the Death Eater long enough to let the man Stun him.

He helped her up, then extended his hand to me. They both stood back, studying me. A hunch was nagging at the back of my mind. I lit my wand and brought it up so that all three faces were illuminated. A pair of hazel eyes under untidy black hair and startlingly green, almond shaped eyes gazed back at me, wide with shock. Just standing there, looking at each other, I found I didn't need to explain myself. My startlingly green, almond shaped eyes drank in every detail about them. I saw the slight bulge in the woman's stomach, and gulped.

"This is really not normal."